


you and me.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [187]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blow Jobs, Champagne, Condoms, Cunnilingus, Developing Relationship, F/M, Kissing, Kitchen Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Relationship Reveal, Relationship(s), Rich Ben Solo, Secret Relationship, Sex, Sex Worker Rey (Star Wars), Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:20:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 85,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23904931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Ben rolled his eyes as the man who was on the phone started listing off all the reasons that Ben running for Congress was a good idea.  He had absolutely no desire to make his political opinions publicly known, and he really didn't want to tell the man on the phone that he only agreed with about ten percent of the reasons that he'd listed off.  He had much better things to do than attempt to be a politician.Besides, he couldn't risk the public finding out about certain things that he did, such as what he had planned for that night.or:  Ben Solo is the 37-year-old mega-rich heir to two fortunes whose parents and grandparents want him to settle down already.  But Ben has no interest in trying to find a wife after all his previous attempts at relationships ended disastrously and landed him in the tabloids.  So he frequents an escort service called Resistance instead, and one night the service sends him Rey.  Things will never be the same.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [187]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601755
Comments: 223
Kudos: 219





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay, a few things. 1) my back is still majorly fucked up but I can't stop myself from writing at the computer anyway. 2) it has been so long since I wrote het sex that I am convinced that it's all going to suck. 3) I need another thing to write like a hole in my head but this won't leave me alone. 4) this is probably going to be pretty long.
> 
> if for some reason you like this, god only knows why you would, but if you should, then could you please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. enjoy!

Ben rolled his eyes as the man who was on the phone started listing off all the reasons that Ben running for Congress was a good idea. He had absolutely no desire to make his political opinions publicly known, and he really didn't want to tell the man on the phone that he only agreed with about ten percent of the reasons that he'd listed off. He had much better things to do than attempt to be a politician.

Besides, he couldn't risk the public finding out about certain things that he did, such as what he had planned for that night. 

After telling the man he'd think about it just so that he could get him off the phone, Ben hung up his work phone and reached for his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts for the one simply listed as Resistance, pressed the button to connect the call, and waited for someone to pick up.

“Thank you for calling Resistance, this is Kaydel. What name am I looking up?”

“Kylo Ren,” Ben said, drumming his fingers nervously against the desk. He was taking a risk making this phone call at the office, but he'd only decided after a disastrous meeting that morning. 

“Here we are, sir,” Kaydel said a moment later. “What time did you want to schedule for? We have a lot of available options on Friday night.”

“Tonight,” Ben said. “I want someone tonight.”

“Hmm,” Kaydel hummed. “I'm not sure I can make that work but I'll try my best. Please hold while I figure this out.”

“Of course,” Ben said, looking over at his laptop and checking the stock market. The Skywalker International stock was looking like it would be closing with a steady gain, but Solo Oil looked like it was having a difficult day. He'd have to have his secretary figure out why that was and if he needed to call an emergency board meeting. His father wouldn't like that, but Ben was not prepared to watch the stock drop by ten points every day.

“Alright, sir, I'm back. Thank you for your patience,” came Kaydel's voice, and Ben turned his attention back to his phone call. “I do have someone available for tonight, but she doesn't fit the specified profile on your file. There are some differences.”

“Such as?”

“She is a decade younger than you are and she is not experienced,” Kaydel said. “You would only be her fifth client.”

Ben sighed heavily. The woman being a decade younger than him wasn't really a problem now that he was thirty-seven because it meant that she would be at an age that wouldn't make him think that he was fucking a teenager, but he did not want to deal with someone who had no idea how these interactions were supposed to go.

But he desperately needed to relax that night and she was all that was available.

“And you're certain she is all that is available?” he finally said. 

“Yes, sir, I'm positive,” Kaydel said apologetically. “Several events are going on around town tonight and we've been booked solid on this night for about a month because of it.”

“Then fine, I'll meet with her,” Ben said before he could change his mind. “My driver will pick her up at the previously arranged location at six.”

“I can make that work, sir,” Kaydel said. “Are we charging this to the credit card on file?”

“Yes,” Ben said, feeling his body relax a little bit already. This would be exactly what he needed. “Can you make a note on my file that someone her age is acceptable but no one younger than that?”

“I can definitely do that, sir,” Kaydel said. “I'm sure that you are aware of this but your base payment will be charged to your credit card, and the money you negotiate will be required to be paid in cash in person.”

“Don't worry, I already knew that,” Ben said, glancing over at the clock. “Thank you, Kaydel.”

“Of course, sir. This is what I'm here for. I hope you enjoy your evening.”

“I'm sure that I will,” Ben murmured. 

“Thank you for calling Resistance,” Kaydel said, and Ben hung up the phone.

His plans for the evening set, he pressed the button on his desk that buzzed his secretary. “Josephine, can you make sure Mitaka knows to pick up my date tonight, please?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Solo,” Josephine replied, and Ben sat back in his seat, running his hands over his face. 

The son of Leia Skywalker and Han Solo shouldn't be using escort services for sex, but Ben wasn't going to get it any other way, and he was a man. Sex was a necessity.

He just hoped that this woman would satisfy his needs and he wouldn't be left disappointed like he usually was.

**********

Rey was almost done drying her hair when Rose showed up, and Rey had never been so relieved in her life. “Please tell me you brought me something to wear.”

“I brought you something to wear!” Rose called out from the living room. “This dress used to get me the biggest fees, so I'm sure it'll be that way for you too.”

Rey walked out of the bathroom a moment later. “You brought me _the_ dress?!”

“Of course,” Rose said, reaching for the zipper of the dress bag. “I don't need it anymore.”

“Once I make enough money to buy appropriate clothes for these things, I'll give it back,” Rey said as she reached out to hug Rose. “I promise.”

“Oh no, I'm giving this to you,” Rose said, shaking her head. “This dress made me hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's going to make you the same thing.”

“Fuck, I hope so because I'm drowning in student loans,” Rey said, taking the dress out of the bag. “I still can't believe I'm desperate enough to do this.”

“Rey,” Rose said seriously, “there is absolutely nothing wrong with working as an escort, especially when you are working for someone like Poe at Resistance. He will never put you in harm's way. If one of their clients does something that was not prearranged, Poe refuses to ever work with them again.”

“I'm not trying to say there's anything wrong with working as an escort,” Rey clarified. “I'm trying to say that I didn't spend all that money in student loans to go to college for four years to get a degree that can't get me a job that will pay my bills.”

“Well, the world sucks. This is the way that I paid off my debt and I'd still be doing it if I hadn't met Finn,” Rose replied.

“You are so lucky that you found a guy that great who didn't care that you were a sex worker,” Rey said, holding up the dress to her body. “This is not going to fit me. It looks too tight.”

“It looks like it's something this guy is going to have to peel off of you and trust me, that's a good thing.”

Rey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “How long did it take you before you stopped feeling like you were a prostitute?”

“Rey!” Rose exclaimed. “You cannot think of this that way. Get the societal stereotypes and shaming out of your head. This is a job. This is a perfectly consensual situation. You just happen to get paid for it.”

“Which is exactly why I feel like a prostitute,” Rey said as she walked towards her bedroom. “But you're right, that's stereotypes talking. It's a job.”

“Exactly,” Rose said, following her and shaking her head when she noticed the lingerie on the bed. “Nope.”

“Nope, what?” Rey asked, turning to look at her in confusion.

“You can't wear lingerie with that dress.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Rey exclaimed. “You expect me to wear this without anything on underneath it?”

“That's exactly what you need to do,” Rose said. “Try it with them on if you want, and you'll see immediately why you can't wear any.”

Rey sighed heavily and laid the dress on the bed. “You're being serious.”

“I'm being serious,” Rose said. “That dress will be so tight on you that there will be lines galore if you wore anything under it. Besides, the guy is going to fucking love that you only have minimal clothes for him to take off.”

Rey stared at the lingerie for a moment before nodding. “Alright, I'll try it on without anything under it, and then if I don't feel comfortable with that, I'm putting the lingerie on.”

“I can accept that,” Rose said, walking out of the room. “And hurry up. You don't have much time for me to do your hair and makeup!”

Rey took a deep breath and pulled her shirt over her head, tossing it towards the laundry basket. The rest of her clothes followed and then she was pulling the dress over her head. By the time that she finally got it into place, Rey had to admit that Rose had been right about the lingerie. There was no way she could have worn anything underneath that dress. The dress was so tight that Rey didn't know how she could sit down in it without it ripping in someplace, but she understood why the dress had made Rose so much money. 

Rey looked sexy as motherfucking hell.

She looked around and found her pair of black stilettos, grabbing them before walking back into the rest of the apartment. Rose looked up when she did and gave her a low whistle. “You look better in that than I did.”

“I somehow doubt that,” Rey said, sitting down on the sofa as carefully as possible.

“That dress is not going to rip, I promise,” Rose said. “So just sit down like you normally do. He'll be able to notice if you don't.”

“I'll try to remember that,” Rey said, running her hands through her hair. “I'm really nervous about this one, Rose. Kaydel said that the guy only made the appointment a few hours ago. That's why there is such a rush.”

“Rey, that is not a reason to be nervous, trust me,” Rose said. “There are only a handful of trusted clients who can make appointments like that. I promise.”

“You would know better than me. I'm still trying to learn all of this stuff.”

“You're doing great, sweetheart. Think about the money you've made already and how you don't have any outstanding bills about the apartment anymore.”

Rey took a deep breath. “I know. That's why I'm doing it. I cannot have this debt around my neck anymore.”

“Then let's finish getting you ready and get you to your designated meeting place so that you can be picked up,” Rose said, standing up. “Did they tell you which guy it was?”

“Someone with the code name Kylo Ren,” Rey said, following Rose into the bathroom. “You ever have him?”

“Nope,” Rose said. “But from what I know from Poe, he's one of his most trusted clients.”

Rey took another deep breath. “Okay then.”

“Come on, makeup and hair,” Rose said, and Rey turned her attention to finishing getting ready.

It was better not to overthink this anyway. It was just going to be sex.

For money.

**********

Ben had just finished retrieving a bottle of champagne for the evening when he heard the phone ring. He glanced at it, saw Mitaka's name, and answered. “Is she here?”

“Yes, sir, she has arrived,” Mitaka said. “She is awaiting permission to come up to the penthouse.”

“Then I will go let her in,” Ben said, hanging up without another word. He walked over to the elevator, pressed the relevant buttons, and then returned to the bar so he could get the champagne open. 

The elevator opened a couple of minutes later and she came into view. Ben's jaw nearly dropped at her beauty, the dress she was wearing hugging her so tightly that she couldn't possibly be wearing anything underneath it, and he decided that if the sex was good, then he would be requesting her again.

But first, he needed to find out her name.

He poured them each a glass of champagne as she looked around the penthouse in awe, and then he walked over and held one out to her. “Good evening.”

Rey swallowed hard at the sight of him because he was fucking gorgeous, but she remembered that she had a job to do after a moment and reached out to take the offered glass. “Good evening.”

Ben nearly closed his eyes at the sound of her voice. British. She was British. He'd always had a British accent down as a preferred if possible trait, but he'd never actually gotten a Brit before. He brought his glass up to his lips and took a long drink before he said something stupid, smiling at her. “May I know your name?”

“You mean you don't know it already?” Rey asked, confused. “I thought they sent that over.”

“I prefer to find out names by asking them instead of reading a receipt,” Ben said, taking another sip of his champagne. “So, may I know your name?”

“Rey,” she said before taking a very long sip of her champagne to calm her nerves. “And yours? I can't imagine that your name is Kylo Ren, though I suppose I can call you that tonight if necessary.”

Ben laughed. “Don't worry, I don't need to be called Kylo. My name is Ben.”

Rey couldn't help but think that the name suited him perfectly. “Then it's nice to meet you, Ben.”

“Same, Rey,” Ben said, polishing off his glass. “More champagne?”

“Sure,” she murmured, handing her glass to him. “Thank you. I've never had champagne before.”

“You haven't?” Ben asked, walking towards the bar. “I would have thought you would have with other clients.”

Rey swallowed at the thought of her previous clients. “I would prefer not to think of the other clients, to be honest.”

Ben looked over at her in concern. “Were they not gentlemen?”

“I'm sure they were fine,” Rey said dismissively. “They were all the same so I assume that is how this goes.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you give me a drink, at the end of the drink, you practically drag me into the bedroom, and then you make me feel like a prostitute,” was out of Rey's mouth before she could stop. “Fuck, I shouldn't have said that.”

Ben sighed heavily and walked back over to her, holding out her glass. “That is not how things should be going. I hope you reported them to your boss.”

“I'm trying really hard not to cost myself the job, actually. The last thing I need is to be complaining about clients.”

“No, the first thing you need to be doing is complaining about clients that mistreat you,” Ben said seriously. “But I promise you that I will not be doing that.”

“Sure,” was out of Rey's mouth before she could stop it again, and she felt like melting into the floor. “Fuck, I shouldn't have said that either.”

Ben smiled at her. “No, it's fine. I like an honest woman.”

“Well, in that case, I'm really intimidated by your penthouse,” Rey said, laughing. “It obviously means you're mega-rich and I'm seriously not, which is why I'm doing this. I don't care how much money this makes me. The second all my bills are paid and I can find a real job, then I'm done with this.”

“You're doing this for money?” Ben asked. “That's it?”

“Yes,” Rey said. “Why? Is that not the usual thing you hear?”

“I hear a lot about opportunities to meet wealthy men and women just loving the way sex makes them feel,” Ben said honestly. “It always feels disingenuous. But you, I believe you.”

“Well, I'm just being honest,” Rey said, taking a long sip from her glass. “So, um, should we talk money?”

Ben walked over to the table and motioned for Rey to join him. “I've already drawn up a contract for ten thousand for the night, though I would be open to negotiating if you feel that is too low.”

Rey's eyes widened at the mention of the amount. “Ten thousand dollars?”

“Yes,” Ben said, peering at her. “Is that not enough?”

“Are you kidding me? That's at least double everything I've made already combined.”

Ben shook his head again. “I say again that you should speak to your superiors. That is a terribly inappropriate amount of money for you to have made already.”

“I'll think about it,” Rey murmured, turning her attention to the contract on the table. “I've never been asked to sign a contract before.”

“It's just your standard NDA,” Ben said, and Rey gave him a confused look. “Non-disclosure agreement.”

“I already signed one of those with the company,” Rey started, but Ben cut her off.

“I am aware of the contract already signed with Resistance, but this is a contract between the two of us,” Ben said, picking it up and handing it to Rey. “You can read through it and let me know if you agree to sign it. If you don't, then I will pay you two thousand for your troubles and say goodnight.”

“What kind of kinky shit are you into?” was out of Rey's mouth before she could stop it, and she mentally kicked herself again. “Fuck, I didn't mean to say that.”

“No kinky shit, I promise,” Ben replied. “I just can't have anyone finding out that I do this. There would be consequences.”

“So you're some mega-rich famous guy then.”

“Not famous by any stretch of the imagination, but my family is very high profile and the last thing that any of them need is their son and grandson exposed as someone who likes to use Resistance's services.”

Rey tilted her head to the side. “If I sign this, will you tell me who you are? I'm very intrigued right now.”

Ben never did that. Ever. But something about Rey made him nod. “If you sign the contract, I will tell you who I am.”

“Then where is a pen?” Rey asked, and Ben smiled and handed her one. 

Rey set her glass on the table, flipped through the contract quickly, saw that it really was a contract for ten thousand dollars, and then signed it. Putting the pen down on the table, she picked up her glass and turned to him. “So who are you?”

“My name is Ben Solo,” he said, polishing off his glass and heading back to the bar. “More champagne?”

Rey was frozen in place. Ben Solo. He was Ben Solo.

Holy fuck, he was Ben Solo.

Ben Solo was one of the richest men in the country, the sole heir to the Solo oil fortune, and one of only three heirs to the Skywalker shipping fortune. His family's wealth went back generations, and he was the kind of man that Rose would have referred to as Old Money. Ten thousand dollars for Rey for the night was like him spending less than a penny on something.

Maybe she should have asked for more money.

“Rey?” Ben asked, and Rey snapped out of her stupor, walking over to the bar and handing the glass over. 

“Ben Solo,” Rey breathed out. “I wasn't expecting that.”

“So you know who I am then.”

“It's a little hard not to have heard of you,” Rey pointed out. “Your family is absurdly rich. Both sides of it.”

“That's one way of putting it,” Ben said, pouring her another glassful. “I hope that's not going to be a problem.”

“No,” Rey said, shaking her head. “It's not a problem. I promise.”

“You're the first woman I've ever told that,” Ben said, pouring himself another glassful.

“What?” Rey asked, her eyes wide. “Why would you tell me then?”

“Because you asked nicely,” Ben said, picking up his glass and heading down a hallway. “I'll get you your money.”

“I am a little worried about getting home with ten thousand dollars in cash in my purse,” Rey said, walking back to the table and setting said purse down on it. “I'm going to be terrified of being robbed.”

“Then I will drive you home,” Ben said as he walked back into the room, thick envelope in hand. “I wouldn't want you to be robbed.”

“Resistance,” Rey said. “I'll let you drive me to Resistance, but not home.”

Ben nodded and set the envelope on the table. “Of course. I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable like that.”

Rey took a long enough sip of champagne to polish off the glass. “Well, you're definitely my favorite client so far. It felt like the others specialized in making me uncomfortable.”

“I will never try to make you uncomfortable and if you are ever uncomfortable, then I want you to tell me that you are,” Ben said seriously. “I will stop doing whatever makes you uncomfortable. I promise.”

Rey nodded and Ben took her glass from her, setting it on the table along with his own. “Then perhaps you are ready to proceed, Rey?”

Rey took a deep breath and then nodded. “If you are.”

Ben reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips so he could kiss it. “You are exquisite, by the way. I feel that needs to be said before I fuck you.”

Just the sound of those words made a shiver go down Rey's spine. “Well, thank you for the compliment.”

Ben led her down the hallway into the biggest bedroom that Rey had ever seen, and once the door was shut, he gently pressed Rey up against it. “You have no problem with kissing on the mouth, do you?”

“Not at all,” Rey got out before Ben was kissing her deeply. 

Dear God, it was the best kiss of her life.

 _No, no, stop thinking that,_ Rey told herself. _It doesn't matter that Ben is easily the hottest guy you've ever fucked. This is nothing more than a job. You are being paid for this. That's it._

By the time Rey tuned back into what was happening, Ben had moved them away from the door and closer to the bed. He broke the kiss to slide his hands along her thighs, making Rey gasp when his fingers slid underneath her dress. Fuck, those fingers felt good, and they were massive too. She wondered how they'd feel inside her and wanted to beg for that to happen, but she knew her place, and it wasn't to ask.

“All I have been able to think about since you walked in here tonight was whether or not you're wearing anything under this dress,” Ben said lowly, and his voice sent shivers down Rey's spine. “So, is it alright if I find out?”

Rey couldn't believe that he was actually asking for permission, but Ben was. She nodded. “You're more than welcome to find out, Mr. Solo.”

Ben felt himself harden even more than he already had. “Fuck, I liked you saying that a little too much.”

Rey reached down and closed her hand around his clothed cock. “No, I think you liked it just fine, Mr. Solo.”

Fuck, his dick was massive too. Rey was going to enjoy this so much. 

_No,_ her brain shouted at her again. _This is not for enjoyment. This is a job._

She felt Ben's lips trail down her neck as his hands came up to the zipper, lowering it before reaching for the top of the dress. The zipper had only loosened it so much, and Ben pulled back to bring his hands to Rey's shoulders, sliding his fingers underneath the straps and slowly pulling them down. Rey let out a shaky breath as slightly cooler air hit her skin, prickling it into goosebumps. Ben stopped lowering the dress at Rey's waist and then brought his hands up to caress her breasts, smiling when he felt her nipples harden beneath his hands. 

“Fuck,” Rey moaned when he used his fingers to tease her nipples, pinching them just hard enough to be pleasurably painful. “You feel good.”

“You are beautiful,” Ben murmured, kissing her again before trailing his lips down until he was kissing her breasts. He felt Rey shudder against him and smiled into her skin, closing his lips around first one nipple and then the other, teasing her with his lips and teeth. 

Rey was breathing heavily by the time that Ben pulled back and he kissed her deeply. “So you weren't wearing a bra,” he mused, reaching for her dress again. “Time to find out if you're wearing panties.”

Rey yelped when Ben suddenly lifted her and laid her down on the bed, her legs dangling off of it. He crouched onto the floor and spread her legs as wide as the dress would allow, running his fingers along her inner thighs until they reached her pussy. “Mm, no underwear either. You're a naughty girl.”

“But you like me that way, don't you, Mr. Solo?” Rey breathed out as one of Ben's fingers ran up and down her folds before pulling away. 

“Yes, I do,” Ben said, pushing the dress up to meet the other half that was still around her waist before spreading her legs even wider and getting a good look at her. “Mm, you have a beautiful pussy.”

“Thank you?” Rey said, making Ben laugh. “No one has ever said that to me before.”

“They should have,” Ben said, pulling Rey closer to the end of the bed and leaning forward to take in her scent. “And you're nice and wet for me too, aren't you?”

Rey gasped as one of Ben's fingers slipped past her folds and inside of her, moaning loudly as she felt his thumb caress her clit. “Only for you.”

“I like the sound of that,” Ben said, thrusting his finger in and out of her a few times before adding a second. “Your pussy's so juicy. I think I'd like to taste it.”

Rey groaned as the fingers were pulled away, watching with wild eyes as Ben brought them up to his mouth and licked at them. “Oh, fuck, that's hot.”

Ben laughed and then trailed kisses up her inner thigh until he was licking along her, tongue pressing into her. She pushed herself against his face, trying as hard as she could to get friction against her clit. Ben licked at her for several moments before moving his mouth up to her clit, closing his lips around it and sucking hard. Rey screamed at the sensation and Ben grinned inwardly.

She was a screamer. Oh, how that pleased him.

He slipped his fingers back into her as he licked and sucked at her clit, and it wasn't long until she was shaking against him, screaming out his name as her orgasm tore through her. Rey was gasping for air when he pulled back, licking his fingers to enjoy the taste of her. “You taste delicious too,” he said before standing up. 

Rey's chest was heaving as she came down from the high, trying desperately to remind herself that just because that was the best orgasm she'd ever had that it didn't mean this was anything more than a business transaction. She was getting paid for this. She was getting ten thousand dollars for this.

But where the other men had made her feel like a prostitute for getting money in return for sex, Rey felt like anything but with Ben. Maybe it was because Ben was actually taking care of her too. She hadn't had a single orgasm with any of the other men. Depending on Ben's stamina and willingness, she wondered if she might have more than one that night.

Ben stared at her as he worked his clothes off. Rey really was gorgeous, easily the best looking woman he'd ever gotten from an escort service, and he decided then that he'd request her again. He couldn't imagine that fucking her was going to be awful, not after getting a taste of her perfect pussy. “Crawl further onto the bed,” he said, walking into the en suite to grab the condoms. 

When he came back out, Rey had taken the dress off and tossed it onto the floor, and she was lying spread eagle on the bed, her cunt in full view again. He really was going to have to taste her again that night. The sight of her again sealed that decision. 

Ben got onto the bed and slid in between her legs, tossing the condoms to the mattress and bending down to kiss her again. Rey groaned into his mouth at the taste of herself on his lips, and when Ben licked into her mouth and began to explore, she shuddered against him. She'd never felt so good in her life. 

Rey willed her inner voice away when she heard it start up again, concentrating on Ben's hands sliding down her sides, his lips teasing her nipples once more. He sat back after a moment and she allowed herself to get a good look at his massive cock, wondering how it was going to feel inside her. “You're huge,” she murmured, reaching out to wrap her hand around it. “I've never had anyone so big before.”

“Don't worry,” Ben said, groaning as she trailed her fingers along the head of his dick. “You can take it.”

“I can't wait,” Rey said honestly. “I'm ready whenever you are.”

Ben reached for a condom and rolled it on, sliding closer to her and tapping his dick against her. “You want me to fuck you, Rey?”

“Please, Mr. Solo,” Rey breathed out. “Please fuck me.”

Ben decided he was enjoying this Mr. Solo thing entirely too much but filed that information away in the back of his mind. He'd have to make sure that happened again. 

He positioned himself and slowly began to push into her, willing himself not to come instantly when he felt how tight she was. “So tight, baby,” he murmured. “So motherfucking tight.”

Rey felt the painful but pleasurable stretch as Ben bottomed out, sucking in deep breaths as she tried to adjust. Ben bent and kissed her again, looking into her eyes. “Are you alright?”

Rey nodded. “I'm fine.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Because I will pull out if you're not.”

Rey almost wanted to cry because Ben was being so kind to her. “I need you to fuck me, Mr. Solo.”

Ben bent down and kissed her again before pulling back with a wicked grin. “As you wish.”

He pulled his cock almost all the way out and then slammed back in, setting a hard and fast pace with his thrusts. Rey writhed beneath him, sensations coursing through her the likes of which she'd never felt before. Her hand drifted down and started massaging her clit as Ben fucked her, and it wasn't long before she was crying out as another orgasm washed over her. Ben could tell that she'd come again and thrust harder, his orgasm rapidly approaching. 

Then Rey looked up at him with a sated grin. “Come for me, Mr. Solo,” she said, and that was all it took. 

Ben thrust into her one last time before spilling himself into the condom, reaching out to catch himself before he fell on her. He let his head hang down as he caught his breath before he looked up at Rey with a smile. “You're amazing.”

“So are you,” Rey said, moaning softly when Ben bent to kiss her. “Fuck, that was good.”

“That was incredible,” Ben agreed as he pulled out of her, collapsing onto the bed next to her. He laid there for a moment before taking care of the condom, tossing it into the bedside trashcan before rolling onto his side and making a decision. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Rey said, looking over at him. 

“If I arranged things with Resistance, would you be exclusive for me?”

Rey blinked. “What? I don't know what that means.”

“It means that I am your only client,” Ben explained. “Resistance will still get their fee for every time we meet up and you and I would negotiate a long-term contract that dictated the terms of what I would pay you.”

Rey was speechless. “You'd want to do that with me?”

“That was the best sex I've ever had,” Ben said honestly. “I want more of it and not just tonight.”

“Ben,” Rey murmured. “I don't know what to say.”

“I'll pay you well, very well,” Ben said seriously. “And I'd start by taking care of whatever bills it is that you're trying to pay off by doing this.”

Rey closed her eyes because this was entirely too good to be true. “I have to be dreaming because there is no way I'm this lucky.”

“You're not dreaming,” Ben said, reaching out to caress her breast. “And I'm serious.”

Rey laid there for a moment as everything that had just happened went through her mind. The best kiss of her life. Ben's incredibly talented tongue. His huge dick and the way it fucking her had felt. She could do this. She could do this often. It wouldn't just be about the money, though the money would be very, very nice. Ben seemed like a nice enough guy. He was certainly nicer than any of her previous clients. 

But she knew nothing about what it meant to be someone's exclusive, and she needed to talk to Rose about it before she would agree to anything. “I need to think about it,” she eventually said. “I need to learn a little bit more about what being someone's exclusive means from Resistance's end of things before I would agree to that.”

Ben nodded and pinched her nipple, making her yelp. “I understand. I will give you proper contact information so that when you do make a decision, you can inform me. In the meantime, I will just request you every time I wish to have an evening like this.”

Rey opened her eyes and looked over at him. “You're really serious about this, aren't you?”

Ben nodded and leaned in to kiss her. “I'm serious.”

“Then I will let you know as soon as I can,” Rey said, gasping when Ben's hand slid between her legs. “Ben.”

“I quite like you calling me Mr. Solo,” Ben said as he slid a finger into her. “And you are still very wet.”

Rey took a couple of deep breaths before smiling at him. “What are you going to do about it, Mr. Solo?”

“I have some ideas.”

“I can't wait to find out what they are.”

As Ben kissed her again, Rey decided that being his exclusive was something she was willing to do provided Rose told her that things like this were normal and safe. In the meantime, she'd enjoy the night for what it was.


	2. Chapter 2

“So what does it mean to be someone's exclusive?” Rey asked as Rose poured them each a cup of tea. 

“It means that the client makes a deal with Resistance that makes you exclusive to them. An additional fee is paid to Resistance for this and your schedule then revolves around whenever the client wants to see you. The client is also not allowed to request anyone but you,” Rose said, sitting down and picking up her cup. “Then you would make a deal with the client for how much they were going to pay you for this. Because you're not allowed to work except for the nights that he wants you to, then they are expected to significantly increase the amount of money per night that they pay you.”

“I see,” Rey said, taking a sip of her tea. 

“Why?” Rose asked. “Poe still trying to teach you the ropes or something?”

“No,” Rey said, taking another sip of her drink. “Ben asked me if I would be his exclusive.”

“Ben?”

“Kylo Ren,” Rey said. “His name is Ben.”

Rose stared at her for a moment before laughing. “Damn, woman. You certainly made an impression.” 

“Apparently so,” Rey said, a smile on her face. “He made me sign an NDA for ten thousand and then when I got home and counted up the money, he'd paid me twenty-five.”

Rose set her cup down. “He made you sign an NDA?”

“Yeah, and with who he is, I don't blame him for that,” Rey said, sighing heavily. “And don't ask me to tell you because I'm not going to.”

“I wasn't going to ask, don't worry,” Rose said. “I've just never heard of a client asking you to sign an NDA when you've already got one signed at Resistance.”

“Yeah, well, I get the feeling that most clients aren't like Ben either.”

“This wasn't so you'd get into some kinky shit, was it? Because you hardly told me anything about your night.”

“No, no kinky shit,” Rey said, shaking her head. “We had champagne, I signed the NDA and he told me who he was, we went into his bedroom, he ate me out, and then he fucked me. After that, he told me that it was the best sex he'd ever had and asked me to be his exclusive. I told him I had to think about it because I didn't really understand what that meant, and then we fucked all night. He dropped me off at Resistance just before dawn and then Poe had Snap drive me home.”

“It sounds like this guy was your best client yet then,” Rose said, reaching for one of the cookies on the table.

“Yes, and he kept telling me that I should have talked to my superiors about the previous ones. He seemed almost offended that I'd been treated the way that I had and that I hadn't made as much money as I should have.”

Rose washed a bite of cookie down with tea. “What were your previous clients like if that offended him so much?”

“Oh, you know, hand me a drink, when that was done, drag me into the bedroom and make me feel like a prostitute, and then send me on my way with apparently way too little money for what had just happened.”

“That is not right,” Rose said immediately. “No wonder you kept saying you felt like a prostitute. They're supposed to be treating you a fuckload better than that.”

“Ben certainly did,” Rey said, smiling before she could stop herself. “Fuck, Rose, I've never felt like that in my life. I've never come that many times in one night before either.”

“So it was really that good then?” 

“Massive dick and fingers, incredibly talented tongue,” Rey said. “I'd have sex like that every night for the rest of my life if I could. That's why I'm seriously considering taking Ben up on this offer. He didn't make me feel like a prostitute.”

Rose went to speak but Rey's phone rang first, so she murmured an apology and picked it up. When she saw that it was Resistance calling, Rey quickly answered it, hoping for another job. “Hello?”

“Rey, this is Kaydel over at Resistance. I've got another booking for you.”

“Great,” Rey said. “When?”

“Eight o'clock tonight.”

Rey's eyes widened. “Tonight?”

“Yes,” Kaydel replied. “You were requested by one of our top clients.”

Rey swallowed hard. “Which client is that?”

“Kylo Ren. You've spent an evening in his company before.”

“Yes,” Rey got out, and Rose gave her a concerned look. “I have. Details?”

“He has requested that you go to a restaurant for dinner first, so be dressed appropriately for an upscale restaurant. I was told that you would be eating in a private space, but he doesn't want to attract attention.”

“Of course,” Rey said, and Rose reached out to take Rey's hand. “Where am I supposed to meet him?”

“You are to be picked up at a predetermined location. Details are inside the brief sent to your email address.”

“I'll be sure to read that then.”

“Have a wonderful evening, Rey,” Kaydel said cheerily.

“I will,” Rey said before hanging up the phone.

“What is wrong?” Rose demanded.

“It's Ben,” Rey said, reaching for her tea. “Ben requested my services for the night.”

Rose squeezed her hand. “There is nothing wrong with this, okay? I had clients request me multiple times too. Besides, if he wants you to be his exclusive, then this really isn't a surprise.”

“And you're a thousand percent sure that I shouldn't be creeped out about this guy wanting me to be exclusive?”

“Positive,” Rose said, smiling at her. “I always preferred it when I was someone's exclusive, even if it was just a month because they were here on business and wanted some female company. I think that this will help you settle into the job.”

Rey took a deep breath before nodding. “Okay. Then I'll tell him tonight that I agree to be his exclusive.”

“If at any time you start feeling unsafe, you tell Poe immediately and he will get you out of this, okay? Even if this Ben guy makes you sign another contract,” Rose said seriously.

“I'll remember that,” Rey said, pushing her chair back and standing up. “Now I have to find something appropriate to wear to an upscale restaurant for dinner.”

“Let's go to my closet and pick something out,” Rose said, standing up as well. “You are so lucky we're the same size.”

“I know,” Rey said, laughing as she followed Rose out of the room. “Believe me, I know.”

**********

Rey climbed into the backseat and smiled at the driver. “Good evening.”

“Good evening, miss,” Mitaka said. “I am supposed to tell you that my boss has changed his mind about your dinner plans and would instead like to have you go straight to the penthouse.”

Rey swallowed hard. “Of course. Whatever he wants.”

Mitaka smiled at her. “He'll be happy to hear that.”

Rey settled into the seat as Mitaka began to drive, looking out the window as Brooklyn faded away and Manhattan came into view. Ben's building was right on Fifth Avenue and she knew that his penthouse had a killer view of Central Park. She'd looked up what apartments on Fifth Avenue were worth on her laptop out of curiosity and some of the prices had made her jaw drop.

She couldn't imagine ever paying one hundred million for an apartment.

She wondered what Ben had paid for his. 

When she was at the building, she went in and waited until the elevator opened and then stepped inside. On the ride up to the penthouse, she tried to tell herself that there was no reason to be nervous. Ben was nice to her. He treated her well. There was no reason to be nervous.

But she was about to tell him that she'd sign a contract to only have sex with him for however long he wanted in exchange for a lot of money. That was a reason to be nervous. 

The elevator doors opened and Rey walked into the penthouse to find Ben was there waiting for her. “Good evening.”

“Good evening, Rey,” Ben said, holding out a glass of champagne. “My apologies for the change in plans. My day went much different than expected when I made the arrangements.”

“So long as you have something to eat here, it's fine,” Rey said, taking the glass.

“Are you hungry at the moment then?” 

“Not really,” Rey said, taking a long sip. “Why?”

Ben grinned at her. “Because I thought we could have a little fun before dinner.”

Rey took another long sip. “What kind of fun are you thinking of, Mr. Solo?”

Ben felt himself grow hard in an instant. “Fuck, I really do love you calling me that.”

“Then I'll do it often, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, polishing off her glass. “But I am serious when I'm asking about what kind of fun you want to have.”

“I want to lay on my bed and have you blow me,” Ben said seriously. “Because all I've been able to think about is what your mouth would feel like on my cock.”

Rey swallowed hard. “You've been thinking about me?”

“Yes,” Ben said, taking her empty glass and walking to the bar. “My hand hasn't gotten such a work out in a long time.”

“I don't know what to say about that,” Rey admitted. “But if you want a blowjob, then you can have a blowjob. Just be prepared for it to be terrible.”

Ben laughed. “Why on earth would it be terrible?”

Rey took a deep breath. “I've only given like four, maybe five, blowjobs in my life. It's never exactly been my favorite thing in the world to do.”

“Then you don't have to do it,” Ben said immediately. “I don't want to make you do something you're uncomfortable with.”

“No, no, it's fine,” Rey said, smiling at him. “I'm more than willing to do it. I just don't want you to expect something amazing. That's all.”

Ben walked back over to her. “Are you sure?”

Rey nodded. “I'm sure.”

He reached out and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips to kiss. “If at any point you feel like stopping, just say so. I'll jerk myself off and then we can have dinner.”

Rey laughed. “If we get to that point, then I'll be the one jerking you off. But we're fine, Ben.”

Ben walked them to the bedroom, closing the door before pulling Rey into his arms. “May I kiss you?”

“Yes,” Rey murmured, and then Ben's lips were on hers in a deep kiss. 

They kissed until Ben had to break away for air, smiling at Rey as his hands went to unbutton his shirt. But Rey reached up and knocked Ben's hands away, bringing her fingers to the buttons and undoing them herself. When the buttons were all undone, Ben snagged one of her hands and kissed it again, smiling softly. “What do you want me to do next?”

“I want you to go lay on the bed,” Rey murmured.

“Pants still on?”

“Pants still on,” Rey confirmed. 

“Then that is what will happen,” Ben said, letting go of her and heading over to the bed.

Once Ben was situated on it, Rey kicked off her shoes and climbed onto it, hovering over Ben with a smile. She kissed him deeply before trailing kisses down the side of his neck. “Do you want to come on my face or do you want me to swallow?”

Ben felt himself harden more than he thought was possible. “You'd let me come on your face?” he got out.

“You're paying me thousands of dollars,” she murmured into his skin. “It's up to you.”

Ben shook his head. “No. I don't want you to do something you're not comfortable with.”

Rey pulled back and looked at him, unable to believe that he was still being so considerate. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Ben said, caressing the side of her face. “I want you to be comfortable with me. So which do you prefer?”

Rey smiled softly. “Swallowing, so long as you're clean.”

Ben pulled her into a kiss. “I'm clean,” he mumbled against her lips. “And if that's what makes you comfortable, then that's what you should do.”

Rey turned her attention back to Ben's neck before she could think about how much his consideration meant to her. Her lips made their way to his collarbone, licking and sucking along the soft skin before slowly making her way down. She stopped to pay attention to both of his nipples, delighting in the moans that escaped Ben's lips when she gently bit them, but soon she was level with the top of Ben's pants. She glanced up to see Ben watching her as she reached out and grasped him through the fabric, bending down and kissing the skin right below his navel. She trailed her tongue down to the top of his pants as she continued to cup him, letting go only to undo the button and lower the zipper. Ben's breathing began to speed up as she stroked him and the moan that escaped his lips when Rey began to mouth him through the thin cotton of his boxer briefs drew a smile to her face. 

After a moment, she stood up and reached for Ben's pants, pulling them off. The boxer briefs were next, and then she settled herself between his legs. Ben's cock was fully hard and leaking, and Rey wrapped her hand around his shaft, running it up and down slowly. Ben groaned as Rey stroked him, his groans intensifying when Rey bent down and licked at the head. She let her tongue swirl around it several times before closing her mouth around his cock, smiling when she heard Ben gasp in pleasure. She sucked gently, lapping at the head with her tongue. She licked at the slit and gathered all of the leaking fluid onto her tongue, and she savored it because Ben tasted very good. 

Yeah, she was definitely swallowing now.

Rey pulled back and licked along the underside of his cock before closing her lips around it again. She started to bob her head as she took more and more of him into her mouth, stopping for a moment when she felt Ben hit the back of her throat. There was still so much of him to take, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to take all of him, but she was determined to take more of him than she had. She took her time becoming comfortable with Ben being so deep, but then she took him that deep on every stroke, enjoying Ben's moans from above her. 

Her hand drifted down to play with Ben's balls, rolling them gently between her fingers while she sucked harder. Ben's hand came up to rest on the back of her head, but instead of forcing her movement like every other man she'd been with who had done that, he gently guided her into a rhythm that worked best for him. She'd have to thank him for that at some point that night. 

She kept up the pace before relaxing as best she could and taking Ben deeper. Ben threw his head back as she dragged her tongue along the vein on the underside as she pulled back, and then she was taking him even deeper and Ben was thoroughly confused as to how Rey thought she was bad at this.

Fuck if this wasn't the best blowjob he'd ever had.

“You are so fucking good,” Ben breathed out. “So unbelievably talented.”

Ben's hips started coming up off the mattress so she reached out and pinned them down. She took him deep a few more times before deciding to try a trick that Rose had taught her. She took him as deep as she dared and then swallowed around him, making Ben swear loudly above her. 

“Oh motherfucking fuck, oh fuck,” Ben got out.

Rey took encouragement from his words and started picking up the pace, letting her teeth drag gently on every upstroke. It wasn't long until she felt Ben pulling at her hair, a warning for what was about to come. She increased her pace even more before taking him as deep as she could and swallowing around him again, causing Ben to make the sexiest moan she'd ever heard and for the salty liquid to hit the back of her throat. She sucked on him until Ben's hand fell away from her head before pulling back and looking down at him. “I'm sorry if that was terrible.”

Ben watched with wild eyes as Rey swallowed a few times before licking her lips, and he found himself wondering what on earth the other men she had been with were thinking when they convinced her she was terrible at blowjobs. Rey crawled back up his body and settled along his side, and Ben gently brought their lips together. “If you think that was terrible, then you are mistaken,” he murmured. “It was incredible.”

“Really?” Rey asked, making Ben nod. 

“I promise.” Ben kissed her again. “You have an incredibly filthy mouth, you know. Perfect. A perfect mouth to go along with a perfect pussy. I'm starting to think you're just perfect.”

Rey swallowed hard at those words, trying not to let them affect her too much. “I'm glad you're getting your money's worth then.”

“I need to get you your money,” Ben said, laying back and closing his eyes. “But in a bit.”

“You overpaid me last time.”

“You deserved it.”

“Why?”

Ben looked over at her with a smile. “Because you have a perfect pussy and you let me enjoy it a lot. If you let me do that again tonight, then I'll adjust the payment accordingly.”

Rey took a deep breath and nodded. “You can enjoy it however you like, Mr. Solo. But can we have dinner first? I'm hungry.”

Ben laughed and kissed her again. “We can absolutely have dinner first. But I need a little bit of recovery time before that. I'm not sure I'd be able to stand if I tried to right now.”

Rey gave him a wide smile and slid closer to him. “Then you just let me know when it's time for dinner.”

“I will, don't you worry.”


	3. Chapter 3

When Rey woke up, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon and shine through the floor to ceiling windows on the east wall of Ben's bedroom. And she was certain that it was the east wall because that was what Ben had called it the night before when he pressed her up against it and fucked her into ecstatic oblivion. Rey had never been one for exhibitionism, but fuck, that had been thrilling as hell. Knowing that someone from one of the neighboring buildings with a high enough up apartment could have looked up and seen her against the glass, Ben's cock sliding in and out of her in a rhythm that had been beautifully torturous, had excited Rey in a way that she never knew was possible.

She'd never come so hard in her life.

Ben had told her the night before that he had taken the day off of work and then asked her to stay, and Rey had found herself agreeing before she knew what she was saying. A quick text to Rose later calmed her nerves about this being abnormal and assured her that things were fine, and then Rey had settled down in Ben's bed and fallen asleep easily. 

He'd worn her out.

She climbed out of the bed and looked around, seeing that she was alone. She thought about putting on her clothes and then going to find him, but then another idea came to her mind and she headed for Ben's closet instead. The walk-in closet was almost bigger than her apartment, and she looked around for a few moments before spotting a row of white button-down shirts. She headed towards it, flipped through them for a moment, and then chose one, putting the hanger back on the rod. She put the shirt on, made sure that only one button in the middle was buttoned, grabbed some condoms from the en suite, and then left Ben's bedroom. 

He wasn't in the main space or the kitchen, so Rey wandered into parts of the penthouse that she hadn't been in yet, eventually hearing him typing away in an office. She went to the doorway and leaned up against it, smiling at the fact that he was still shirtless. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Ben said, not even looking up. “Sorry, but I needed to attend to these emails before I could do anything else today. Hux can't do a fucking thing without me holding his hand throughout the entire process. Why my father thinks he's intelligent enough to run Solo Oil is beyond me.”

“I see,” Rey said, pushing off the doorframe and walking into the room, an idea forming in her head. “Are you going to need to relax after this email?”

“You have no idea how much,” Ben said, still not looking up. “Hux is a motherfucking asshole and I hate having to deal with him, but since I'm the Chairman of the Board for the company because my father has retired, it means that I have to be the one to put up with this bullshit.”

Rey walked behind Ben and put her hands on his shoulders, massaging them gently before bending down and kissing his neck. “I will gladly help you relax, Mr. Solo.”

Ben groaned as he felt himself harden. “You calling me that might be the sexiest thing I've ever heard. I hope you know that.”

“Good,” Rey murmured, kissing his neck again. “I like that I'm pleasing you.”

Ben finished typing, turning his chair around to find Rey there wearing nothing but his shirt, and he hardened even more. “Oh, Rey, you have no idea how much you please me.”

Rey shuddered as Ben's hands ran up her inner thighs, a finger sliding into her. “So wet for me already,” Ben murmured. “You've been thinking about something, haven't you?”

“Yes, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, gasping when Ben's thumb began to massage her clit. “I woke up thinking about sex, but then I saw you in here and got an idea.”

“And what idea is this?” Ben said, pulling his hand away and bringing his finger up to lick. 

“I want you to take off your pants,” Rey said, bending down to kiss him. “And then I want to ride you for all your worth. Does that please you, Mr. Solo?”

Ben let out a shaky breath. “Oh, Rey, how that pleases me,” he said, standing up and running his hands through his hair. “I need to go get a condom.”

“Pocket of the shirt,” Rey murmured, and Ben grinned.

“Came prepared, did you?”

“Always prepared for you, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, and Ben's hands reached for his pants. 

He quickly got them shoved down, kicking them away. Rey's hands went to his dick, stroking him as Ben pulled her into a deep kiss. After a few moments, Rey pushed him away and back into the chair, and Ben reached for the arms and pulled them up so they weren't in her way. 

“I've never been happier this chair has that feature,” Ben said, making Rey laugh. 

Her hands went for the button of the shirt that was done but Ben stopped her, shaking his head. “I want you to wear the shirt.”

Rey gave him a wide smile. “Gladly, Mr. Solo.”

Ben reached for the shirt's pocket while his other hand slipped back between Rey's legs, grabbing a condom as he teased her clit between his fingers. “You have more than one condom in that pocket,” Ben said, grinning at her. “Were you expecting more than just this?”

“After last night, I was hoping for it,” Rey said honestly. “I've never had a more satisfying night in my life.”

“Mm, you liked me fucking you?” Ben murmured as he slid a finger into her again. “All those positions in all those different places?”

Rey's breathing became harder as Ben fingered her, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep herself upright. “I loved it.”

“What was your favorite part?” Ben asked, bringing the condom packet up to his mouth and tearing it open with his teeth. 

Rey moaned as Ben's fingers hit a sensitive spot. “The windows,” she breathed out. “I liked being fucked against the windows.”

Ben grinned at her as he pulled his hand away. “You liked the thought that someone could see us? You're a naughty girl.”

“Your naughty girl, Mr. Solo.”

Ben quickly rolled the condom on and then leaned back in the chair. “Whenever you're ready.”

Rey took a deep breath and then climbed onto Ben's lap, kissing him passionately. Ben reached up and slid his hands into the front of her shirt, caressing her breasts and teasing her nipples with his fingers. Rey sucked at the base of his neck, shifting around until she felt his cock at her entrance. She pulled back and stared at him as she reached down and guided him inside her, lowering herself until Ben was buried within her. Ben's eyes rolled back into his head when Rey clenched her muscles around him, making her even tighter than she already was. 

Fuck, he loved how tight she was.

Rey brought their lips together as she began to move up and down, gasping when she realized just how deep their position made Ben slide into her. “Oh fuck, you feel so good, Mr. Solo.”

“So do you,” Ben got out as Rey picked up the speed of her movement. “Been so long since someone has ridden me like this.”

“Mm, you like it when someone rides you?” Rey murmured, opening her eyes to look into Ben's.

“One of my favorites,” Ben said, reaching into her shirt again. “But no one has ever ridden me quite like this. My shirt on, in a chair in my office. But this is perfect, Rey. Absolutely perfect. Just like your pussy. You're so tight, baby. So, so tight.”

“You're so big,” Rey breathed out. “I am going to hate being fucked by someone smaller now. You've ruined me for that.”

Ben suddenly hated the thought of someone else fucking her and caressed her breasts roughly. “You know, we could arrange it so that I am the only one that fucks you.”

Rey started moving faster, dropping one of her hands to massage her clit. “Yes, yes, fuck yes.”

“I hope that means exclusivity,” Ben said, gasping when Rey clenched around him again. “This isn't going to last very long if you keep doing that.”

“Doesn't need to be long,” Rey got out. “Just pleasurable.”

Ben got annoyed with the button of the shirt and so he quickly undid it, pulling it open and leaning forward to kiss and lick along Rey's torso as she bounced on him. “What if I wanted long?”

“Should have told me that before we started then,” Rey gasped, feeling Ben remove her fingers from her clit only to replace it when his own fingers. “Fuck, I love your fingers.”

“Is that so?” 

“Could get myself off just by thinking about them stretching me, sliding in and out of me, your thumb on my clit,” Rey said, moving faster. 

“Rey,” Ben said. “Look at me.”

Rey's eyes went to his and Ben's voice became demanding. “Have you done that? Have you gotten yourself off thinking about me when we're not together?”

Rey didn't say anything so Ben moved his hand away from her, making her whine. “Tell me the truth. I'll reward you.”

“Yes,” she breathed out, settling into his lap and stopping her movements. “The day after our first night together, you were all I could think about.”

Ben reached out and pulled her into a kiss. “You were all I could think about too,” he murmured. “That's why I want to know that I can have you and only you. Please.”

“Yes,” Rey mumbled against his lips. “You and only you. But can we finish fucking?”

Ben laughed but didn't release Rey, rocking his hips up into her and making her scream. “Touch yourself,” he said softly. “I'll take it from here.”

Rey sat up as Ben's hands went to her hips, and Rey began to massage her clit as Ben slammed himself up into her at a faster pace than she'd been moving. “Oh fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“You are so beautiful,” Ben said. “You look sexy as hell when you're dressed, but you like this, fuck, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.”

Rey closed her eyes and let the pleasure wash over her, her fingers moving rapidly against her clit. “You don't have to lie to me.”

“I'm not,” Ben said, leaning forward to suck on one of her nipples. “I promise you I'm not.”

It wasn't long until Rey was screaming out her climax, Ben following her a few moments later. She collapsed against him as she shook with the aftershocks, Ben's cock still deep inside her. He drew her into a kiss and they kissed until they were breathless before Rey settled comfortably against him, moaning every time she shifted and Ben moved within her. 

“Did you mean it?” Ben eventually asked. “You'll go exclusive to me?”

“Yes,” Rey said softly. “I was going to tell you that last night but I didn't get a chance to in between all the sex and the food. You're a great cook, by the way.”

Ben kissed her sweetly. “You have no idea what that means to me,” he murmured. “No idea.”

Rey forced any thought of what Ben's words could possibly mean to the back of her mind. This was a business transaction and nothing more. She was going to get paid a whole lot of money to have sex with this rich and influential man for as long as he wanted her to. That was it.

“I'll do whatever I have to do to please you, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, but Ben shook his head. 

“Nothing that makes you uncomfortable,” he said seriously. “So if I go too far, stop me.”

“I will,” Rey said, pressing a kiss to his neck. “I promise.”

They sat there contentedly for a few minutes before Ben came up with an idea. “You may have noticed that I have a gigantic bathtub,” he said, smiling. “Would you like to join me in it?”

“I've never fucked in a bathtub before,” Rey said into his skin. “I've never even lived somewhere that had one.”

“Then I am going to make sure that you have the greatest bath in the history of baths,” Ben said, making Rey giggle. “You ready?”

Rey nodded and pulled back, carefully separating their bodies and getting to her feet. Her legs were shaky and she leaned back against the wall to help keep her upright. Ben stood a moment later, took one look at her, and picked Rey up, walking towards the door. “To the bath, we go.”

Rey put her head on Ben's shoulder as he walked, thinking about how glad she was to have finally met a client who cared about her the way that Ben did. Being exclusive to him was going to help settle her into the job, and when he decided it was time to move on, then Rey would be better prepared for the next one. 

Though, with as much money as she might make doing this for a little while, there might not be a need for the next one.

**********

Rose flipped the papers shut before looking up at Rey. “Damn.”

“I know, right?” Rey said, taking the contract back from her. “He said that I can negotiate on any of the terms inside, including how much money he pays me.”

“Rey, he wants to give you a million dollars upfront,” Rose said, laughing slightly. “And then one hundred thousand every night you meet up.”

“I know,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Not going to lie, that really scares me.”

“Why does that scare you?” Rose asked.

“Well, for one, my grandfather is going to want to know where this money came from once he finds out about it,” Rey said, but Rose just shook her head. 

“Fuck your grandfather. You don't need to tell him anything.”

“He called the other day. Wants to meet up for lunch.”

“I hope you told him to fuck off.”

“I told him I'd think about it, but I said that with no plans of calling him back or going to this lunch.”

“Next time, just tell him to fuck off and hang up,” Rose said seriously. “You do not need to be dealing with that negativity.”

Rey took a long sip of her tea. “Can we get back to the contract?”

“I'm right and you know it,” Rose said, sighing. “But yes, the contract. What did Poe think of it?”

“Poe said it was legit and that it was up to me,” Rey said. “He also said he knows that if I sign it, as soon as Ben is done with the exclusivity, then he knows that I'll be quitting. So at least we're on the same page there.”

“You'd really quit and not take the opportunity to earn more?”

Rey just gave Rose a look. “You know that I don't want to be doing this. Of course, I'd quit. That kind of money will sustain me for a very long time.”

“True,” Rose said, shaking her head. “So sign it then.”

Rey played with the pen in her hands. “I'm scared to sign it.”

“Why?” Rose asked, taking a sip of her tea. “And be honest because if there is something that is scaring you, it needs to be corrected before you sign anything.”

Rey closed her eyes. “It's nothing Ben does or has done or that I think he will do. It's me.”

“I don't understand what that is supposed to mean.”

“It means that I'm scared of how he makes me feel.”

“Rey, it's just sex.”

Rey laughed. “It's just really, really good sex.”

“Really, really good sex is nothing to be scared of,” Rose said seriously. “That will just make things better for you. Make it easier.”

Rey took a long sip of her tea. “You're right. It'll just make it easier.”

Rey flipped the contract open, found the right line, took a deep breath, and signed her name. “Okay, I need to call Ben and tell him I signed it.”

“He's probably going to call Resistance and book you for tonight then,” Rose said with a smile. 

Rey grinned. “He already did. Kaydel called me earlier.”

Rose laughed and stood up, collecting their cups. “Get out of here. Call your client. Wear _the_ dress tonight and enjoy the sex.”

Rey shook her head and stood up, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door. “Love you, Rose! I'll talk to you later.”

“Don't worry about calling me tonight. Just go make that money!”

Rey laughed as she walked out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben was beyond bored of being at parties like the one he was currently attending, but given who his family was, he had no choice but to attend them. He'd gone around the room talking business with those he'd needed to, flirted with a couple of ladies to make it look like he was actually still looking for a wife, and then gone straight to the bar. He was on his third glass of whiskey when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder, and he turned to see Poe Dameron standing there. “Poe.”

“Ben,” Poe said, nodding to the bartender to get another. “I've been needing to talk to you. Perhaps we can go somewhere a little more private than this to talk business.”

“Of course,” Ben said, putting his glass on the bar and asking the bartender to refill it. “It's been a while since we've talked business.”

Once both their drinks were refilled, Poe motioned for Ben to follow him. They passed Poe's mother along the way, Poe stopping to say something to Shara. “If Han and Leia come looking for Ben, let them know that I'm going to show him something and we'll be back soon.”

“Of course, darling,” Shara said, smiling at Ben. “It's so wonderful to see you, Ben.”

“It's nice to see you too, Mrs. Dameron,” Ben said, kissing her on the cheek.

“Thank you, dear. Now go before someone tries to stop you,” Shara said, a smile on her face. 

They said goodbye and walked out of the room, and Poe waited until they were locked inside an office on the top floor of the house before turning to Ben. “What the fuck is going on with you and this girl?”

“Rey,” Ben murmured. “Her name is Rey.”

“I am well aware of what her name is, Ben. I am also well aware of the fact that with every woman you've had go exclusive for you before, you never made them sign a contract quite like that one. So what is going on?” Poe asked as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Ben sighed and sat down in the other. “It's just a contract, Poe.”

Poe just shook his head. “Ben, you're paying her a million dollars upfront before you even get to nightly fees. You haven't even spent half a million dollars in total at Resistance. What is going on?”

Ben took a very long sip of his drink. “It's the best sex I've ever had and I want more of it. That's it.”

Poe just glared at him, which made Ben sigh. “I don't want her to fuck anyone else. That's it.”

“Which she won't now that she's exclusive to you, but that doesn't explain the money, Ben. That's the kind of money that can get noticed.”

“She has already agreed to open up accounts at three banks different to her own so that only two hundred and fifty thousand is put into each account. It's fine.”

“Ben,” Poe said firmly. “Tell me or I'll ban you from Resistance and take Rey away from you.”

“You wouldn't dream of it.”

“You want to risk that?” Poe asked. “Or maybe I should tell Leia why it is you aren't trying to find someone to marry.”

“The less said about that the better.”

“Ben, fucking tell me what's going on.” Ben stayed silent and Poe's voice grew harder. “Now or I will make sure you never see Rey again.”

Ben took a long sip of his drink, and Poe was about to threaten him again when he started talking. “I'm so tired, Poe. I'm tired of everything that being me means. I'm tired of my family constantly trying to introduce me to daughters of influential businessmen because they think she would make a good wife. I'm tired of dealing with incompetent idiots running things and me having to always clean up their messes. I'm so tired. But when I'm with Rey, I'm not thinking about any of that. I actually feel like a functioning human being.”

“Ben, you hardly know her,” Poe started but Ben cut him off.

“I know. Believe me, I know. But I can't get her out of my head. I can't get how she makes me feel out of my head.” Ben polished off his drink before running his hands over his face. “She's perfect. That's what's going on.”

Poe watched him for a moment. “I'm worried about you.”

Ben let out a small laugh. “I'm worried about me too.”

“I mean, I've been worried about you ever since you started using Resistance's services instead of actually trying to meet someone, but now I'm really worried about you.”

“You know why I don't want to try to meet someone,” Ben pointed out. 

“Just because the last one went to shit so spectacularly does not mean that every one will,” Poe said.

“No, it just means that when I inevitably drive them away because that's what always happens, they'll just run to the media since now there's an appetite for that,” Ben shot back. “The last thing that I want is to end up on the cover of every fucking trashy magazine there is again so the woman I used to fuck can make a couple of bucks.”

“And so what, your solution is to lock them into a contract where you pay them for sex instead?” Poe asked, shaking his head. “I have let you get away with this contract bullshit because of who you are and knowing that you'd only use it in extreme circumstances, but for fuck's sake, Ben. One of these days the lawyer you have drawing up these contracts is going to run to the press too.”

“There is no lawyer. I do it myself,” Ben stated. “Might as well put that Harvard law degree to good use.”

“If that was meant to change the subject, know that you failed,” Poe said, taking a long sip from his drink. “I should keep Rey away from you. I really should.”

“Poe,” Ben said, and Poe immediately picked up on the fear in his voice.

“I didn't say I was going to. I said that I _should_ ,” Poe clarified. “But you have got to get yourself sorted out, Ben. And you need to start by not getting personally attached to employees of mine that you're fucking. And paying a lot of money to fuck too.”

“It's more than just sex that attracts me to Rey,” Ben said softly. “She seems to not give a fuck about the fact that I'm Ben Solo and instead just that I'm Ben. She's asked me more questions about things that would seem inconsequential to any of the other women I've used your services for than anyone I've interacted with anywhere in at least the last five years.”

“Such as?”

“Such as asking me if black is my favorite color because I don't own a blue suit or what my favorite song is or, fuck, she even called me a good cook.”

Poe laughed. “No wonder you're getting attached to this girl. She likes your cooking.”

“Fuck off, I'm not that bad,” Ben said with a smile on his face. “But do you get what I'm saying? She is interested in me and not my money. Or at least she's selling that very, very well if she's lying to me.”

“Are you sure she's not after your money?” Poe asked.

“She told me she was quitting as soon as she earned enough money to pay off her bills and she was able to get a real job,” Ben replied. “And she said that to me before we even discussed money that first night.”

“And that made you think she's not after your money?”

“It sounded like the truth where every other one of those women's reasons sounded like a lie,” Ben stated. “And that's part of the reason why I told her who I am.”

“That still doesn't explain how you know she's not after your money.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Her initial reaction after asking her to go exclusive was that she needed to think about it. She didn't just jump and take the money like every other one of them would have. If she wanted my money, especially after learning who I am beyond some rich man named Ben, I think that would have been different.”

Poe gave him a surprised look. “You told her your name was Ben before you told her you were Ben Solo?”

Ben closed his eyes. “Fuck, she's so gorgeous, and then she's got a British accent to die for, and...you know how long I've been wanting someone with a British accent, Poe. I said my name was Ben before I could think about it and I don't regret that.”

“Rey really has gotten to you, hasn't she?” Poe asked. “From the first moment you saw her.”

Ben nodded. “I can't explain it.”

Poe polished off his drink and stood up. “We need to get back to the party. And you need to watch yourself. You start making Rey uncomfortable and not only will you never see her again, but I also won't let you use Resistance anymore.”

“Poe,” Ben said, standing as well. “Not a word to anyone. Not even her.”

Poe just shook his head. “I wouldn't do that to you and you know it.”

“Thank you,” Ben murmured, snatching up his glass. “Let's go get more whiskey. My mother wants to introduce me to someone tonight and so I need to be drunker than this when that happens.”

**********

Rey settled her head against the pillow as Ben laid down next to her, and she gave him a sleepy smile. “You were really worked up tonight. I hope I helped, Mr. Solo.”

“Sex is over, Rey. Please call me Ben,” he said, shifting onto his side so he could look at her. “But yes, I was very worked up tonight. It was a very long day.”

“What do you do on the weekends?” Rey asked. “I would think that would give you a break and not make you so worked up.”

“Sometimes I'm more worked up on the weekends than I am during the week,” Ben said honestly. “At least then I have work to distract me from my family.”

Rey gave him a curious look. “You don't like your family?”

“No, it's not that. I love them. But they are insistent that I find a wife already and they don't realize how impossible that is for me.”

Rey reached out and tangled her hand in Ben's hair, smiling when he moaned softly as her fingers stroked his scalp. “Why is it impossible to find a wife? I'd think that there's plenty of women who'd want to marry you.”

“They want to marry Ben Solo, not me,” Ben said seriously. “All I am to them is my last name, my mother's maiden name, and the number in my bank accounts. I don't want that.”

“So find someone who isn't interested in that.”

“That is impossible.”

Rey shook her head. “No, it's not,” she murmured. “I'd marry you for who you are instead of your family or your money.”

Ben swallowed hard. “You'd marry me?”

Rey let out a small laugh. “This is nothing more than a business transaction, but it's the best relationship I've ever been in. Every guy I've ever been with has been a complete asshole. You are not.”

“You don't know me well enough yet,” Ben murmured. “Just wait.”

“Trust me, given how kind and considerate you are to me, there's nothing you could do that would make me think that you're an asshole. Unless you get abusive. Then you're a motherfucking bastard.”

Ben reached out and caressed the side of Rey's face. “I'd never do that to you. And it sounds like you're speaking from experience.”

Rey nodded after a moment. “College boyfriend. Took me a couple of years and him getting locked up in prison to get away from him.”

“I'm sorry,” Ben said, leaning over to kiss her. “No one should have ever laid a hand on someone as beautiful as you are. And I don't just mean your physical beauty. You have a beautiful soul too.”

“Thank you,” Rey mumbled, pulling Ben into another kiss. “Tell me about your family?”

“Only if you tell me about yours,” Ben said, settling next to her. “And you start because you definitely know more about mine than I do yours.”

“I don't know much of anything about yours. I don't even know your parents' names,” Rey said, sighing. “But fine, I'll go first. I don't have a family. My parents died in an accident when I was eight, so I was moved from London to New York by my grandfather and he raised me from then. He was cold and unloving, seemed to hate absolutely everything about me, and so once high school was over, I moved out and quit speaking to him. We've gotten back to occasional phone calls but that's as far as I'm going to let it go. I fucking hate him.”

“I'm sorry,” Ben murmured. “I can't imagine the pain of losing your parents.”

“It was a long time ago. I've dealt with it as much as I can and moved on. Nothing is going to bring them back,” Rey paused and took a deep breath. “Now tell me about yours.”

Ben closed his eyes for a moment. “Well, I've got my parents, my uncle and his wife, and my grandparents on my mother's side. That's it.”

“That sounds like a lot.”

“Compared to what you have, I suppose it is,” Ben said, thinking about how to phrase things. “My relationship with my father is difficult, though we both have a great love for each other. He's insistent on running things the way his father taught him, and he doesn't understand that the times have changed and things have moved on. He got very angry with me about a year ago when I conspired with other members of the board to get him out of Solo Oil, but we've gotten back on track, I think. At the very least, he's cordial with me again. Knowing him, he's probably still privately furious and will never forgive me for it.”

“What's his name? I really did mean it when I said that I don't know them.” 

“His name is Han.”

Ben fell silent so Rey prompted him. “And your mother?”

“My mother's name is Leia,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “I have a much better relationship with her, but it's still difficult. It's difficult in the 'I'm not married yet' way as opposed to the business stuff like it is with my father. I'm her only child, so she's always put a lot of emphasis on me, but whereas before it was welcomed because I love my mother, now her focus has shifted to finding me a wife and it's just annoying. She doesn't seem to have any concept of the situation I find myself in. It's hard enough being the only Solo of this generation, but to be the only Skywalker of this generation too means that I'm going to inherit all of it someday. As I said, finding someone who wants to be with me for me is very difficult.”

“I think you'll find someone,” Rey murmured, tangling her fingers in Ben's hair again. “I believe that you won't be alone forever.”

“I'm not alone. I've got you,” Ben said before he could stop himself. “And I don't want to let you go.”

“I'm here until you're done with me,” Rey said, trying not to let on how much Ben's words got to her. This was a business transaction. She was being paid for sex. That's all it was. “And then I will thank you for everything and hopefully we'll part on good terms.”

“I don't want to think about this ending,” Ben said seriously. “It's not ending any time soon.”

He didn't want to let Rey know that the thought of not seeing her every day was already killing him, and how the thought of not seeing her ever again was like sticking a knife through his heart. He didn't want to let Rey know any of that. He didn't want to scare her off like he had everyone else.

Rey just smiled at him. “That makes me happy. I hated this job before I got you as a client, you know. And I'm so going to be done with it once we're finished. But being here with you right now? That makes me happy.”

“You make me happy,” Ben said, kissing her softly. “And I meant what I said. No talk of this ending.”

“Okay,” Rey mumbled against his lips. “I won't mention it again.”

“Good,” Ben said as he pulled back. “Thank you.”

Rey nodded. “Tell me about the rest of your family.”

“My uncle Luke is married to Mara Jade, who is one of the heiresses to the Jade cosmetics fortune.”

“I buy their makeup all the time,” Rey admitted. “Guess I'm contributing to that.”

Ben laughed. “Luke and Mara love each other more than I could express, but despite their attempts, they were unable to have a child. So I'll be inheriting everything that is theirs once they're gone. More inheritance. As I said, it's going to be what keeps me alone in the end.”

“Say you never get married. Say you never have a child. What happens to everything once you die?” Rey asked curiously.

“I'd find someone to leave it all to that I would trust could handle it all,” Ben said, smiling at her. “Maybe I'd leave it all to you.”

Rey just rolled her eyes. “Ben, don't be ridiculous.”

“I'm not being ridiculous,” Ben said, darting in for a kiss. “And we're talking hypotheticals.”

“Still ridiculous,” Rey said. “Alright, so that's your parents and your aunt and uncle. You mentioned grandparents. Tell me about them.”

“My grandfather Anakin is the Chairman of the Board of Skywalker International, and he's the sole heir of his generation, which is why we have control of everything. He seems to understand me better than anyone else in the family. It is said often that I inherited his temper and his ability to be ruthless when it comes to making decisions. My grandmother Padmé was one of the heiresses to the Naberrie electronics fortune, which was split between her and her sister, and then the company was bought by Skywalker International before being sold to another party.”

“Is everyone in your family an heir or heiress to something?” Rey asked.

“Yes,” Ben said, sighing. “And I'm expected to find the daughter of some wealthy and influential businessman and make them my wife. But I don't want any of them.” 

_I want you._

Rey yawned heavily. “You wore me out. I know it's only seven but can I sleep for a while?”

“No,” Ben said playfully, making Rey slap at his shoulder. “Of course, you can sleep for a while. I need to sleep too.”

As they settled down next to each other, Rey closed her eyes and tried desperately not to think about how she could see herself being the right woman to become Ben's wife. Ben closed his eyes and tried desperately not to think about how Rey had said she'd marry him because he just knew that she was the right person for it.

But this was a business transaction and neither knew any way to move past that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the love this story and my horrible attempts at writing het sex is getting. Also, I feel like this chapter is terrible.

Rey had just arrived at Ben's and was giving him a welcoming kiss when the penthouse was buzzed, and Ben swore loudly when he heard the voice come through the speaker. “Benjamin, darling, your grandmother and I decided we'd stop by for a moment. Let us up.”

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Rey looked over at the elevator and swallowed hard. “Is that your mother?”

“Yes,” Ben breathed out, opening his eyes to look at her. “We'll just ignore it. That will get them to leave.”

As soon as Ben said that, Leia's voice came back through the speaker. “I know you're up there, Benjamin. The doorman said that you arrived home about an hour ago.”

“You need to let them up,” Rey said, giving him a soft smile. “I can go to some other part of the penthouse until they're gone.”

“No,” Ben said quickly. “Stay here with me. Please.”

“Ben, I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Rey said carefully. “I mean, you're paying to fuck me. That's not exactly a meet the family kind of position for me to be in.”

Ben looked at Rey with pleading eyes. “Please. I'll come up with some story about why you're here for dinner and they'll buy it, most likely happily because they'll think I'm on a date, and then they'll get out of here quick and I'll desperately need to relax.”

Rey reached out and caressed the side of Ben's face. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Rey stared at him for a moment before nodding. “Then I'll go along with whatever you say.”

Ben kissed her deeply. “Thank you,” he murmured before heading over to the elevator and pressing the right buttons. “They're going to love you, I'm sure.”

“I hope so,” Rey said, extremely nervous. “Because I'm fucking terrified right now.”

Ben walked back over to her. “Don't be terrified, okay? They'll be thrilled to meet you. They'll just be so happy to find a woman in my apartment.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Rey asked, waiting until Ben nodded. “When was the last time you were on an actual date?”

Ben sighed heavily. “You remember the bullshit with me on the front of all the papers and those fucking magazines because of my ex?”

Rey nodded. “I think it would have been difficult to miss that.”

“Ugh, don't remind me,” Ben muttered. “But anyway, it was with her.”

Rey's eyes widened. “Ben, that was nearly four years ago.”

“I know.”

“And you want your mother to find me in your apartment?” Rey exclaimed. “I'm practically a prostitute, Ben.”

Ben grabbed Rey and made her look at him. “You are _not_ a prostitute,” he said firmly. “And I would much rather my mother find you here than anyone else.”

Rey forced thoughts of what Ben could have possibly meant to the back of her mind and nodded slightly. “I'll try to remember that when I'm meeting your mother then.”

Ben smiled and kissed Rey, and they were still kissing when the elevator doors opened a minute later. Leia squealed the moment her eyes landed on them. “Benjamin! I didn't know anyone was here!”

“Leia, behave,” Padmé said next to her, shaking her head. “We are obviously intruding on a personal evening.”

“Well, we're not leaving until I get to meet this beautiful woman that is in my son's arms, Mama,” Leia said, walking over to them. 

Ben took a deep breath and released Rey from his arms, hugging his mother before wrapping an arm around Rey's waist and pulling her close. “Mama, Grandma, this is Rey. Rey, this is my mother Leia, and my grandmother Padmé.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Rey said nervously, and she felt Ben's arm tighten around her waist in support. 

She was meeting his mother and grandmother. This was not how this evening was supposed to be going.

Yet Rey couldn't help but think that meeting Ben's family was something she really wanted to do. She wanted to be part of Ben's family.

 _Wait,_ she thought. _What?_

“It is wonderful to meet you, Rey,” Leia said, smiling widely. “Ben, you didn't tell me about this.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Excuse me for wanting to be sure that things are going to go anywhere before I subject her to the family.”

“That's rude, Ben,” Padmé said, and Ben bent to kiss her cheek.

“I'm not trying to be rude, Grandma. But you have to understand how intimidating the family is to people.”

“Ben, honestly,” Leia said, but Padmé smiled knowingly. 

“He's right, Leia. There are few people on the planet who aren't intimidated by the sheer amount of wealth that Ben already has, let alone will eventually have.” 

“He has to find one someday, Mama,” Leia said, turning her attention back to Rey. “But perhaps he has.”

“I don't know about that,” Rey laughed nervously. “That's a lot of money.”

“But she is handling that knowledge better than anyone in years,” Ben said, squeezing Rey again. “Besides, we don't really talk about it.”

“How did you meet?” Leia asked. “And what family is she from?” 

“Leia!” Padmé exclaimed. “That is not appropriate!”

“I can't question her lineage?”

“Rey is not an heiress, Mama,” Ben said. “And we met through Poe. Rey works for him.”

Rey immediately became concerned and confused. Ben knew Poe? And why did Ben tell his mother that Rey worked for him?

“Oh, that must be wonderful,” Padmé said. “I always feel like working with Poe must be so much fun. All those schoolchildren around.”

“Yes,” Rey said, even more confused. “It is quite nice.”

“Mama, Grandma, while I love you both, do you think you could let Rey and me get on with our evening?”

“Of course,” Padmé said before Leia could respond. “We were just stopping by anyway.”

“Next time, maybe call first?” Ben asked, making them both smile.

“Of course, darling,” Leia said, smiling. “We just didn't know there was anyone who could possibly be here.”

“I know,” Ben said. “And there was a reason for that.”

Padmé hooked her arm around Leia's elbow before she said anything. “We understand, Benjamin. We'll see you this weekend.”

“Mama!” Leia exclaimed as Padmé started to pull her away. “Let me at least say goodbye.”

Padmé let go of Leia so Ben let go of Rey, but instead of hugging her son, Leia hugged Rey instead. “You join us for dinner this weekend, alright? Everyone else is going to want to meet you.”

“Mama!” Ben said, pulling Rey away from her. “Stop!”

“Leia, honestly,” Padmé said, grabbing onto her daughter and pulling her towards the elevator. “Rey, while it would be nice to have you join us for dinner, do not feel like you need to do that. I don't want you to do something you're uncomfortable with.”

Rey immediately realized that Padmé had been a big influence on Ben. “Thank you, Mrs. Skywalker. I'll consider it.”

“None of this Mrs. Skywalker stuff,” Padmé said, smiling at her. “Please, call me Padmé.”

“Then I will, Padmé,” Rey said, returning the smile as Ben's arm came back around her waist. 

Leia called for the elevator and stepped inside with a grin once the doors opened. “Enjoy your evening, you two! Ben, I'll call you tomorrow.”

“I am not telling you about this date, Mama,” Ben said seriously. “So you better have some other reason for calling.”

“I am looking after your best interests,” Leia said firmly, but Padmé pressed the button that would close the doors quickly.

“Have a lovely night. And I'll take care of your mother, Benjamin.”

“Thank you, Grandma!” Ben called out, and once the doors were closed, he let go of Rey and headed straight for the bar. “What do you drink that isn't beer or wine? I need something harder than champagne to deal with this.”

“Whiskey,” Rey said, making Ben look at her with a smile. 

“You drink whiskey?”

“Entirely too much of it,” Rey confirmed. “My grandfather mentioned once that my mother was a whiskey drinker, and then, of course, I had to try it. I've been more than a little hooked ever since.”

“Favorite whiskey cocktail?”

“Monkey Jam Sour,” Rey said. “But right now I want it neat. That was the most nerve-wracking thing I think I've ever done.”

“You did great,” Ben said, reaching for a glass and the bottle of whiskey. “They loved you.”

“That's nice,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Why did you tell them that I work for Poe? What was your grandmother talking about? And, also, you know Poe?”

“Poe and I went to boarding school together,” Ben explained. “His parents are filthy rich too. Everyone thinks that Resistance is nothing more than a non-profit organization called Arts Unleashed that helps schoolchildren get an arts education. Poe started the aspect of it that you're more familiar with when a similar service that operated in the city had their client list revealed, and he decided that such a service needed to be done correctly for those of us who require it. He uses the money Resistance makes in the non-profit.

“I'm the only one of Resistance's clients that knows that he is the owner, and he doesn't tell any of his employees that he's one of those Damerons. That way, the girls never know to tell his clients, and his clients have no idea who the girls work for. He spends most of his time behind the scenes at the non-profit, but he does like to know the women who work for him, which is why you've met him.”

Rey stood there until Ben approached her with a couple of glasses in his hand, holding one out to her. “Don't worry about them thinking that you work for him, okay? I'll tell Poe we need to come up with a cover story, he'll talk to Zorii about it, and then everything will be fine.”

“Zorii?”

“His wife,” Ben explained.

“Another heiress?” Rey asked after taking a long sip of her drink. “Wait, don't answer that.”

“It's okay, Rey,” Ben said, watching as she took another long sip. “I promise. Poe won't compromise your position here.”

Rey forced herself to take a couple of deep breaths before letting out a small laugh. “I can't fucking believe this.”

Ben gave her a confused look. “What does that mean?”

“It means that the one place in all of New York that I've wanted to work at since I was like fifteen is Arts Unleashed,” Rey said, polishing off her drink. “I went to school and got a degree specifically so that I was qualified to work there. And then they wouldn't hire me, and neither would anyone else, and I have ended up working for Poe but in a way that I wish I hadn't. Fuck.”

Rey walked over to the bar and grabbed the bottle of whiskey, but Ben was by her side and taking it out of her hand before she could open it. “I can make it so you have an actual job there then.”

“I want a job because I earned it, Ben. I don't want shit just handed to me because you can do that,” Rey said, sighing heavily. “Besides, I'm not ready for this to be over.”

Ben forced himself not to think about what that could mean and instead focus on the fact that Rey meant money. “I can pay you more if necessary.”

Rey closed her eyes. “I really don't want to think about the fact that you're paying me money for this right now. I mean, fuck, I just met your mother and grandmother, Ben. That is not something that should have happened.”

“Then we won't discuss money,” Ben said, pulling the bottle out of Rey's reach. “I am not letting you get drunk now.”

“I can handle my whiskey.”

“I'm not trying to say that you can't,” Ben clarified. “What I am trying to say is that I know of a different way to distract you.”

Ben took Rey by the hand and led her over to his sofa, reaching out and pulling her into a kiss. “Let me make you feel good.”

This, Rey could do. This, Rey was used to. This, Rey was now _addicted_ to.

She was going to miss this so much once Ben decided that this was over and she'd never get it again.

Rey nodded and Ben kissed her hungrily, sliding his hands underneath her skirt and inching it up. He broke away with a smile once her skirt was around her waist. “You're not wearing underwear again. Naughty girl.”

“I thought you liked me that way, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, smiling at him. 

“I do, Rey,” Ben said, pushing her down onto the sofa. “I really do.”

Rey felt her breathing speed up when Ben dropped to his knees before her, spreading her legs as wide as he could. She closed her eyes as Ben kissed up the inside of her thigh, sliding a finger into her. “So wet already, baby,” he murmured into her skin. “Did you come over here with something on your mind?”

She laughed before gasping as Ben stuck another finger into her. “Fuck yes. I know to show up here as ready for sex as I can be.”

“So how do you get yourself ready then?” Ben asked, turning his attention to the other thigh. “Be honest.”

Rey gasped as Ben slowly moved his fingers in and out of her. “I think about you,” she breathed out. “Your fingers, your cock, your tongue. And then I bring myself to the edge and stop.”

Ben grinned. “You stop?”

“It's difficult, trust me,” Rey got out as Ben's mouth neared her pussy. “But I'd rather you get me off than my fingers, so I wait.”

“Mm, that pleases me,” Ben said, pulling his fingers from her and replacing them with his tongue.

“Fuck,” Rey exclaimed, throwing her head back. “I'm glad that I please you, Mr. Solo.”

Ben had planned to take his time, tease her, bring her to the edge slowly and then let her teeter there, but once he'd had a taste of her perfect pussy again, he knew that he couldn't do that. He licked at her eagerly, moving his lips up to suck at her clit. Rey screamed at the sensation, Ben's fingers sliding back into her, and she waited for him to back off a little so she could catch her breath. But Ben didn't back off and it wasn't long until Rey's entire body was shaking, pleasure soaring through her as she came.

Ben licked at her for a few more moments before pulling back, finding Rey staring at him with wild eyes. “Feel better?” he asked, his tongue darting out to get the taste of her off his lips. 

“Fuck, you're so good at that,” Rey got out between gasps. “So motherfucking good.”

Ben grinned at her. “I think you are the first woman who has ever thought that.”

“That can't possibly be true,” Rey said, taking a deep breath.

“You would be surprised then,” Ben said, getting to his feet. “Take your time. I'm going to go start on dinner.”

“No reciprocation?”

“Not necessary,” Ben said, walking away. “We can get to me after dinner.”

Rey leaned her head back against the sofa as Ben walked into the kitchen, closing her eyes.

She'd met some of Ben's family. She wanted to be part of Ben's family.

But this was a business transaction, not a relationship.

She was so fucked.


	6. Chapter 6

“Wait a minute,” Rose said. “You met his mother?”

“And his grandmother,” Rey mumbled, reaching for her drink as Finn cleared their plates away. “It was weirder than fuck.”

“Holy shit,” Rose said, leaning back in her chair. “I don't even know what to say about that.”

“I learned all kinds of things that night. I'm not really sure how I feel about them.”

“Have you thought about talking to this Ben guy about it?” Finn asked as he rinsed the dishes. “Because I'd think that might help.”

“Every time I try to bring up the fact that this is nothing more than a business arrangement that is going to end someday, he asks me not to talk about that. I haven't worked out what that's supposed to mean because I really don't want this to end either,” Rey said, taking a long sip of her whiskey.

“Of course you don't,” Rose replied. “You're making a fuck ton of money doing this. I don't blame you for that.”

Rey closed her eyes and took another sip of her whiskey. “That's not why I don't want this to end.”

Rose stared at her across the table for a moment before she got it. “Rey.”

“I know.”

“Getting attached to clients is a fucking horrible idea.”

“I know.”

“You can't think that way.”

“I know.”

“You need to realize that this is nothing more than a job. You are doing this for a job.”

“I know.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing?”

Rey swallowed hard and took another sip of her drink. “No one has ever taken care of me the way he does. And I'm not just talking about me being taken care of in bed, though he does that too. He's constantly asking how I am, how life is affecting me, what it is that he can do to help. He talks through shit about my grandfather with me when he calls, and he lets me help him deal with shit too. Is there a lot of sex? Yes. I can't even begin to tell you how much. But there is a lot of just talking too, and that is something that I have never been able to have with anyone else. I just...he makes me feel like a real person.”

Rose sat there quietly until Finn sat back down next to her, and he reached for her hand. “Rose, maybe this isn't such a bad thing.”

“This is nothing more than a job, Finn. I don't want to have to be dealing with a best friend with a broken heart when the guy who is paying her so that he can fuck her whenever he wants has ended their business arrangement,” Rose said seriously. “This is a massive problem.”

“Maybe the guy is feeling the same way Rey is,” Finn pointed out. “I mean, he introduced Rey to his mother and grandmother when she could have easily been hidden away in another part of the penthouse. That has to mean that he likes her more than is let on.” 

“He is a rich and influential man, Finn. He probably introduces women to his family all the time.”

“No, he doesn't,” Rey said softly. “The date that he let his mother and grandmother think we were on would have been his first in nearly four years. That's why they were so excited to meet me. They've been waiting for the day when Ben would meet the right woman.”

Rose's eyes widened. “Four years?”

“That's what he said, and their reactions confirmed that he wasn't lying to me. They were so excited, Rose. Especially his mother. And all I could think about was how I wished it was true.”

Rose sighed heavily. “Rey, you really need to get out of this situation before you get hurt. And I mean that.”

“I don't want to get out of this situation!” Rey exclaimed. “I don't care if this shatters me when it's over. I'm not going to pass up a single second that I can spend with him.”

“Rey, this is not good. It's not good at all. You have to know that.”

“Well, all I know is that I'm being treated like I'm a goddess by Ben fucking Solo and I don't want it to end,” Rey said before she could stop herself, her eyes widening when she realized what she'd revealed. “Fuck.”

Finn and Rose's jaws were both dropped. “Ben Solo?” Finn finally said. “Seriously?”

Rey realized that she had no choice but to confirm it now. “Not a motherfucking word to anyone about this.”

“We wouldn't tell anyone and you know it,” Rose said, letting out a small laugh. “No wonder he can pay you that kind of money.”

“I know,” Rey said, running her hands over her face. “Fuck. He's so amazing, you guys. He's exactly the kind of guy that I could see myself spending the rest of my life with. It's just that he's one of the richest men in the world and I am so broke that I'm letting him pay me so he can fuck me. I really don't know what to do about how I feel, but I figure I'll just deal with it once this arrangement ends. Trying to deal with it now is too much. I'd rather just enjoy it.”

“Oh, this is going to end so badly,” Rose muttered. “So, so badly.”

“Maybe it will, but I'm not going to let things change until he says he wants them to,” Rey said, reaching for her phone when it rang. “Excuse me.”

She stood up and walked out of the kitchen while she answered the phone. “Hello?”

“Rey, this is Kaydel over at Resistance. I hope you're having a nice day.”

A brilliant smile spread across Rey's face. “I am having a great day, Kaydel. How are you?”

“I'm great,” Kaydel replied. “Your client has requested your company for the rest of the day today and then for the next two whole days as well.”

Rey's eyes widened. “It's barely afternoon.”

“Yes, it is, but he was quite insistent that he would like to see you as soon as possible,” Kaydel said. “I have him holding on another line so I am calling to see how quickly you would be able to be picked up by his driver.”

Rey walked into her bedroom and glanced at herself in the mirror. “Where does he want us to go? I need time to get appropriately dressed and put together a bag with things for the next couple of days.”

“I will see if I can get an answer out of him. Hold please.”

Rey sat down on her bed as the holding music began to play, trying not to think about Rose's reaction to the fact that Rey was falling for Ben. Deep down, she knew that Rose was right, that this would only get her hurt in the end, but she just couldn't deny the way that Ben made her feel. He made her feel loved for the first time in her life. She wasn't about to let go of that until she absolutely had to.

“Thank you for holding, Rey,” came Kaydel's voice. “He would like you casually dressed and for you to also bring appropriate clothes so that he can take you out to dinner.”

Rey swallowed hard. They hadn't been in public together yet, Ben always changing his mind about going out for dinner by the time that she'd reached the penthouse. “Alright. I can probably make it to the designated meeting spot in about an hour.”

“He has requested that you allow his driver to pick you up at your apartment, but he will also understand if you would like to travel to the prearranged location and be picked up there.”

Rey closed her eyes. Rose would go ballistic if she found out that Ben's driver was picking her up at her apartment. Ben had asked her if it was possible that she would allow Mitaka to do just that, and she'd said that she'd think about it. She trusted Ben and Ben had assured her that she could trust Mitaka too. The designated meeting spot had been explained to Mitaka as his way of making sure that the woman he was picking up would feel comfortable with Ben before her place of residence was revealed to an employee of his. Mitaka had never questioned it in all of the years that Ben had been using this system, and he swore that he'd been using it for women he was actually attempting to date long before he'd started using Resistance's services. 

In other words, Mitaka just thought that Rey was the latest relationship that Ben was trying to keep out of the papers, so Rey had decided that she could trust Mitaka too.

“It's fine if his driver picks me up at my building, but I don't want him coming up to my apartment,” she said after a moment. “So I will be waiting for him outside the building in an hour.”

“I will mark that down,” Kaydel said. “You do realize that this means the client will be receiving your address, right?”

The thought of Ben knowing where she lived didn't scare her. It more mortified her because her dingy building in Brooklyn was about six gazillion levels below the standard of Ben's in Manhattan. 

“Yes, that is fine,” Rey replied. “I trust him to have it.”

“Then I will pass all that information to your client. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, Rey.”

“Thank you, Kaydel,” Rey said, hanging up. 

She took a deep breath and walked back into the kitchen, finding Rose and Finn looking at her expectantly. “Ben wants to see me, so you two need to leave.”

“I still think that this is a terrible idea,” Rose said, standing up. “But I recognize when I can't change your mind.”

“I think that you're probably worrying about this too much, baby,” Finn said, standing up and walking over to Rey while Rose collected her purse. “You call us tomorrow, okay?”

“We'll see because Ben wants me there for the next couple of days too, so I need to go pack.”

Rose was shaking her head as she walked over to her. “I don't like this. I don't like this at all.”

“Well, I'm sorry, but I don't care,” Rey said, hugging Rose. “Don't worry about me, okay?”

“I'm beyond worried about you,” Rose replied, pulling back. 

“Rose, come on. She needs to pack,” Finn said, wrapping an arm around her back. 

Rose nodded and let Finn lead her to the door. “It's a job, Rey. Remember that!”

“I'll try!”

**********

Ben was sitting up in bed, Rey asleep beside him, when his phone beeped. Reaching for the bedside table, he got into it and pulled up his email, opening the one from his secretary that was marked urgent. There was little more than a link inside of it and he closed his eyes and prayed that it wasn't what he thought it was. Clicking on it, the link opened in the phone's web browser, and then Ben was looking at the website of one of those trashy magazines, an article with the headline “Who is Ben Solo's new mystery woman?” staring back at him.

Fuck.

He scrolled through the article to where the pictures were, finding images of him with Rey during the dinner out that they'd had the night before, and he immediately decided that he'd never go back to that particular restaurant. They'd been seated in a private area instead of with the rest of the public, and it was clear that the photos had been taken by someone working in that section. A personal phone call to the restaurant manager was in order so that the person who had taken and then sold the photos could be dealt with accordingly. 

Ben had absolutely no problem demanding that they lose their job. He couldn't give a fuck about how hard it was to find a job in the market conditions that currently existed. 

Once he was done looking at the images, he scrolled back to the top and read the salacious text that was the article, relieved that they had no information about Rey beyond the fact that they'd had dinner together. However, there were now problems because they weren't going to stop until they found out who she was, and therefore, things needed to be done. 

The first thing he did was send an email to Josephine instructing her to make sure that the media department of Skywalker International knew that any statement that was put out said that he didn't comment on his personal life and no more. When it was time to announce something about him and Rey, he would deal with it then. 

Not that there was ever going to be anything to announce with Rey because this was likely to scare her off. 

Ignoring how much that made his heart ache, he scrolled through his contacts until he found Poe's, quickly calling him. It didn't matter that it was nearly two a.m. and that Poe was likely asleep. This needed to be handled immediately.

“Ben, it is fuck o'clock in the morning and I was asleep,” came Poe's voice a moment later.

“Someone took pictures of me and Rey at Coruscant last night and sold them to one of those motherfucking magazines,” Ben said as quietly as he could so he didn't wake Rey. “They haven't identified her yet but you know it's just a matter of time.”

“Fuck,” Poe muttered, and Ben could hear him say something to Zorii. “Give me a minute to get to my office.”

“Of course.”

The phone went quiet for a few seconds and then Poe came back on the line. “Why the fuck didn't you sit in the private area?”

“We did,” Ben said, a little harder than necessary. “These pictures were obviously taken by a member of their staff. As soon as it's morning, I'm calling to speak to the restaurant manager and getting their ass fired.”

“I don't blame you,” Poe said, sighing. “Fuck, this isn't good.”

“No shit,” Ben said as the sound of a door opening echoed through the phone. “But I have an idea on a solution.”

“And what is this?”

“You actually give Rey that job at Arts Unleashed that I told my mother and grandmother that she had,” Ben said softly. “That way, should information about her be found out, she has an actual job that those fucking reporters can find out about and it won't go against what I told them.”

Poe sighed heavily. “How am I supposed to make it look like she's been working there for a while? I'm not committing tax fraud for you, Ben.”

“I don't see how that would be necessary,” Ben said seriously. “You can begin paying her when she starts working and say that she was doing some unpaid internship and that you have recently decided to bring her on full time.”

“Yeah, but if they start asking people over there about how working with Rey is and she hasn't been working there...”

“Which is why you could say that she's been working behind the scenes with you and Zorii helping on that collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art that you've been telling me about.”

“Hm,” Poe mused. “That has been something that only Zorii and I have been working on, no one else.”

“Precisely.”

“We'll have to come up with some reason as to why we're having an unpaid intern helping with that if it's necessary, but Zorii is good at that kind of stuff. I'll talk to her about it.”

“I really need you to do this for me. I'm worried about what might happen to her if this is discovered.”

“I'll have to officially end her position at Resistance,” Poe said after a moment. “That means your arrangement comes to an end.”

Ben closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. “I can't lose her, Poe.”

“Then tell her that.”

“What? I can't do that. She's doing this for money and nothing I say is going to change that.”

“You need to at least give her the choice, Ben. Find out if she wants to continue things or not. But you need to be aware of the fact that she might not.”

“She would still technically be under contract with me,” Ben murmured, and he could tell that Poe was shaking his head.

“If I'm giving her an actual job, you're not allowed to pay her for sex anymore. And I mean that. You have to agree to that or else I won't agree to this.”

“She's going to be furious with me over this,” Ben said, looking over at her. “I told her I could get her a job at Arts Unleashed and she said that she wanted to earn it, not just have it handed to her.” 

“I think she will understand the necessity,” Poe responded. “She's not going to want the true nature of things to be exposed.”

“I could murder whoever took those pictures and sold them right now, and I wouldn't feel any regret or remorse about it,” Ben said bitterly. “I really could.”

“Ben, I need you to promise me that you will release her from that contract or I'm not doing this for you, no matter the consequences.”

Ben sat there for a moment and Poe was about to start talking again when he sighed heavily. “Fine. I will release her from the contract and start coming up with some sort of a reason to tell my mother and grandmother for why this relationship has come to an end.”

“You don't know that it's going to be like that, Ben. She might be feeling the same way you do.”

“I'm not that lucky,” Ben mumbled. “She's going to walk out of my life and I'm never going to find anyone like her again.”

“You don't know that.”

“Yes,” Ben said strongly, “I do.”

“I'll talk to Zorii in the morning and then call you so things can be arranged. If she leaves, just let me know and I'll track her down myself.”

“Thank you,” Ben replied. “And I'm sorry for waking you up.”

“Don't apologize. This is important. I'll talk to you in a few hours.”

Poe hung up before Ben could say anything else, and Ben tossed the phone onto the bedside table. There were a lot of things that he needed to do now, like inform his family that he was in one of those trashy magazines again, but he'd rather enjoy the last moments of peace that he was going to get with Rey. He slid closer to her and curled himself around her back, letting his hand come up to caress one of her breasts. He should let her just sleep, let her enjoy the last moments where her life was hers and not the world's, but he needed her more. 

Ben positioned her leg so that he had access to her perfect pussy and then let his hand drift down. His thumb trailed up and down her folds before he parted them and slipped a finger into her entrance. She was still remarkably wet considering that it had been a few hours since they'd last fucked, and soon he was slipping his finger in and out of her with ease, stopping only to add a second. 

Rey woke slowly to the feeling of kisses on her neck, and she moaned softly when she felt the fingers slide into her. “I thought we were done for the night,” she mumbled, and it brought a smile to Ben's face. 

“We were, but I need this right now. I'll explain why afterward.”

“Is everything okay?” Rey asked, yawning. 

“No,” Ben said honestly. “I need this, baby.”

“Whatever you need, Ben,” Rey said, pulling her leg further towards her chest to give him better access. “I'll do anything to help.”

Ben closed his eyes before reaching underneath his pillow for a condom. “Thank you,” he breathed out, bringing his thumb up to massage her clit. “I'll make sure it's good for you, baby.”

“Mm, it's always good for me,” Rey murmured, gasping as Ben curled his fingers inside her. “Oh, fuck.”

“Did I hit it again?” Ben asked, tearing the condom wrapper with his teeth.

“Fuck,” Rey gasped as he stroked her. “Fuck yes.”

Ben smiled and pressed a kiss to her shoulder before slowly rolling the condom onto his cock. Rey whined when he pulled his hand away from her but sighed happily when he lined himself up against her. He pressed into her as gently as he could, pausing once he was buried so she could adjust. He turned his attention to the curve of her neck into her shoulder until she was pressing back against him, and then he began to thrust.

Rey moaned loudly as Ben fucked her at a steady pace, his hand coming up to tease her nipples into hard nubs. “You feel so fucking good,” Ben mumbled into her skin, picking up the speed of his thrusts despite wanting to draw things out so he could savor it for one last time. 

Fuck, he really didn't need to be thinking of losing her while he was balls deep inside of her. 

Rey was pushing back against him to meet his thrusts, head thrown back against Ben's shoulder in pleasure. Sex with Ben was good, so unbelievably good, that Rey didn't know how she was ever going to be able to live without it. She just hoped that Ben wanted to keep this arrangement going for a while.

Ben's hand slid down her body and he started to massage her clit at a hard and fast pace, and he smiled when Rey screamed in pleasure. His thrusts grew faster and it wasn't long until Rey was shaking next to him, screaming his name as her climax tore through her. A few more thrusts and then Ben's hit him, leaving him gasping for air and with eyes filled with tears.

He was happy. Rey made him unbelievably happy.

And now he was going to lose her.

He pulled away from her and rolled onto his back, bringing his hands up to cover his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered. “I just wanted that one last time.”

Rey's heart jumped into her throat. “One last time?”

“I don't want this to end,” Ben said, rubbing at his eyes to try and stop the tears. “I want you to stay here forever. But something has happened and I have to end our arrangement, and I know that means that you're going to leave and never come back. So, yes, one last time.”

Rey shifted around until she was facing him. “Ben? What's going on?”

“We were photographed together at the restaurant yesterday and whoever took the photos sold them to one of those trashy magazines,” he said, surprised by the steadiness of his voice. “I'm working with Poe on how to make sure that your employment at Resistance isn't found out, and part of that is getting you a job at Arts Unleashed like you asked me not to. But Poe said that means your employment at Resistance has to end because of that, and that means our arrangement has to end as well. So I have possibly ruined your life, and I'm trying hard to make up for it, but I probably can't.”

Rey forced herself to take several deep breaths. “So this is the end of our arrangement.”

Ben nodded as a tear slipped down his face. “I don't want it to be, but if Poe finds out that I'm still paying you then he'll stop helping me make this easier for you should the media find out who you are. Right now they're just calling you my mystery woman.”

Rey slid closer to him and reached out, pulling his hands away from his eyes and seeing the unshed tears in them. “Ben, it's okay.”

“It's not,” Ben said, closing his eyes. “I'm going to lose you and it's killing me.”

Rey suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. “You don't want to lose me?”

Ben turned to look at her. “Fuck, you're so perfect, you know that? I'm not just talking about in bed. You're everything that I have ever wanted. Everything. And now you're going to leave in the morning and I'm never going to see you again.”

“Ben,” Rey breathed out, unable to believe she'd just heard all of that. “It's okay.”

“No, it's not,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “You are released from your contract. I'll sue the fuck out of you if you go to the papers about this, but I also know that won't be necessary. I trust you not to. I'll understand if you want to leave now instead of in the morning.”

Ben rolled so his back was to Rey, so she slid closer to him and wrapped herself along his body. “Ben,” she whispered, pressing kisses to his shoulder. “I don't want to leave.”

“You don't have to lie to make me feel better. I understand.”

Rey pulled him closer. “This isn't how this was supposed to go, you know. I wasn't supposed to fall this hard for you.”

Ben took a shuddering breath. “Don't lie to me.”

“I'm not,” Rey soothed. “I promise.”

Ben laid there for a moment before turning around in her embrace, looking into Rey's eyes and seeing the honesty there. “You really don't want to leave?”

“I really don't want to leave,” Rey replied. “And if you don't want me to leave, then I see no reason to leave.”

Ben brought a hand up to tangle in Rey's hair. “I'm going to trust that you're not lying to me,” he said after a minute. “But if you are, I'm going to destroy you. I'll have to.”

“And I understand that. You're a rich and influential man and I'm just me,” Rey started, but Ben interrupted her.

“Just you is amazing. You're the best person I've ever met.” Ben pulled Rey into a kiss. “I really don't want to lose you.”

“You're not going to,” Rey murmured. “I promise.”

They kissed again and when Ben pulled back, he just had to hear her say it. “You're really willing to stay with me? Give this a chance?”

“Yes,” Rey confirmed. “I am.”

“I don't deserve that. Not after how we met. Not after what's been happening.”

“Ben, I don't think you know what you deserve. I don't care how we met. I just care that we met.”

Ben went to speak but his phone started ringing and he sighed. “That's my mother, which means she probably saw the article.”

“Answer it,” Rey said, kissing Ben quickly. “I'm going back to sleep.”

Ben nodded and Rey rolled back onto her side, closing her eyes. Ben had worn her out and she was absolutely exhausted, so she wanted as much sleep as she could get before facing what had happened in the morning. But as she laid there, one thing kept going through her mind.

Ben wanted to be with her. She couldn't believe it.

Ben threw the covers back and stood up, noticing he was still wearing the condom before reaching down to take care of it. He grabbed his phone off the table, his underwear off the floor, and then he left the room so Rey could sleep in peace. As he walked towards his office, one thing kept going through his mind.

Rey wanted to be with him. He couldn't believe it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is kinda short but it works better this way. more soon.

Ben got into the car and smiled at Rey as she got into the passenger's side. “Are you sure you won't let me take you all the way home?” he asked. “I'm going to be worried if you take the bus like you said you were going to.”

Rey sighed heavily. “Your car will stick out so much in my neighborhood and that would just make people put things together sooner.”

Ben conceded the point but that made him think of something else. “What do your neighbors think you do for a living, by the way? Because that's something to consider while crafting this plan of ours.”

“They think I work at Arts Unleashed because that's what I wanted to do,” Rey said as she buckled her seatbelt. “So we don't need to worry about that.”

Ben turned the key and started the car. “That's good. And I really would like,” he started, but Rey's phone ringing interrupted him.

“Sorry,” she murmured, reaching for it. “It's probably Rose. I'm sure she's seen the pictures by now.”

Rey answered the phone without looking at the display, but the voice that interrupted her greeting was definitely not Rose.

“When exactly were you going to tell me that you're fucking Ben Solo?”

Rey took a deep breath. “Hello to you too, Grandfather.”

At the word grandfather, Ben put the car back into park and reached for Rey's hand, squeezing it gently.

Sheev Palpatine practically growled. “The last thing I knew you were not able to make your rent and now here you are, having dinner at fucking Coruscant with Ben motherfucking Solo. So you are going to tell me what the fuck is going on. Now.”

Rey took another deep breath. “I met Ben through my boss,” she lied. “They are old friends and Ben and I just hit it off. It's in its very early stages and we're both currently furious that this ended up becoming public.”

Rey could tell that that Sheev was shaking his head. “You are lucky that I like you a little, child, or else I'd be calling the fucking _Post_ with your identity right now.”

“The _Post_?” Rey asked. “I thought that only one of those trashy magazines had them.”

“Oh no,” Sheev said. “Front page of my paper this morning. How do you think I know about this? There's a big shot of my granddaughter's face staring back at me. Ben Solo's new mystery girlfriend. They are offering a reward for anyone who can identify you.”

Rey swallowed hard. “The _Post_ is offering a reward for my identity?”

Ben's eyes widened and he immediately reached for his phone. The _Post_ 's website was pulled up quickly as Rey continued to talk to her grandfather, and just looking at it made Ben's blood boil. Thoughts started going through his head at a breakneck pace, and he slowly began to put together an order in which to do things.

First off, he wasn't going into work. His meetings could be fucking rescheduled.

Second, he was going to have the head of someone in the media department for not informing his secretary that this had happened. Josephine would have notified him hours ago when the first edition hit the streets had she known, and Ben was aware of that. He'd have to give her another raise just for informing him about the article on the trashy magazine's website. She was nothing but loyal to him.

Third, Poe needed to be called because they were going to need that cover story as soon as possible. Maybe he and Zorii could come over to the penthouse so that things could be discussed over lunch.

And fourth, Ben needed to apologize to Rey for ruining her life.

One through three could be done in the car, but number four couldn't. He didn't exactly know how he would give her the best orgasm in history while he was driving. They'd have to go back up to the penthouse. 

Rey hung up the phone a few moments later, letting out a frustrated scream. “I hate him so much.”

“I know, baby,” Ben said, leaning across the console to pull Rey into a kiss. “I'm sorry you had to talk to him and I'm sorry you're on the front page of the _Post_. This is all my fault.”

“It's not your fault,” Rey murmured after another kiss.

“It kind of is,” Ben replied, setting back into his seat. “I need to make a few phone calls. Do you mind if we go back up to the penthouse? I need to do this before I take you home.”

“Sure,” Rey said, unbuckling her seatbelt. “Whatever you need to do.”

“Thank you, baby,” Ben said, and then they both got out of the car.

By the time that they were in the elevator, Ben needed to start making things up to Rey immediately. So he put the key in and turned it, and once the elevator began to move, he pushed Rey up against one of the walls and kissed her deeply. “Four minutes,” he murmured into her ear. “Let's enjoy that time.”

“Enjoy it how?” Rey asked as Ben kissed his way down her neck.

“I have an idea,” Ben said, letting his fingers slide under Rey's skirt. “It ends very nicely for you.”

Rey gasped as Ben's hand moved further and then his thumb was caressing what little bit of her pussy it could get at. She unconsciously slid her legs further apart to give him better access. “We're not going to fuck in the elevator,” she said. “That's too far for me.”

Ben slid a finger into her and smiled when she shuddered against him. “Then it's a good thing that wasn't my plan,” he said, kissing her again. “I thought just making you come with my fingers would suffice.”

Rey threw her head back against the wall as Ben slid another finger into her, his thumb finding her clit. It amazed her how Ben had already learned exactly how to touch her in the way that she needed. No previous man had ever cared enough to learn that, never cared enough to even figure out that they needed to learn that. But Ben had.

They'd only known each other for six weeks. It was incredible.

“You are so wet for me, baby,” Ben said lowly. “You want more than just my fingers, don't you?”

“Always, Mr. Solo,” Rey said between gasps. “I always need more of you.”

“Tell me what you need more of and maybe I'll give it to you once we're in the penthouse,” Ben said, and Rey grinned.

“You need to go to work, Mr. Solo.”

“The only thing I'm working on today is you,” Ben said, curling his fingers within her and beginning to stroke. “So tell me what you want more of.”

Rey was quickly becoming a shuddering mess, but she wanted more than just Ben's fingers and she knew that she had to say that in order to get it. “Your cock,” she got out. “I want your massive cock to fuck me.”

Ben stroked her for a few more moments before pressing down hard on Rey's clit, and she screamed, her climax tearing through her. She slumped against Ben when it was over, sighing happily when Ben moved his hand away from her. She watched as he brought his fingers up to his mouth so he could taste her. “Fuck, that's really hot.”

Ben chuckled. “You really do taste so delicious, you know that?”

Rey didn't answer, still trying to catch her breath. Ben licked his fingers clean just as the elevator arrived, and he picked Rey up and carried her into the penthouse. He headed to the sofa instead of the bed because it was quicker, setting her down on it and then tearing his suit coat off. “I need to fuck you now.”

“Then come do it, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, sliding her skirt up around her waist. 

Ben worked furiously to get his belt undone, shoving his pants and underwear to his ankles once he did. He reached for the drawer of the end table to grab a condom, rolled it onto his dick, and then climbed onto the sofa as Rey opened her legs for him. He pulled her closer to him and then pushed into her, burying himself on the first stroke. He tried desperately to hold onto his self-control while Rey adjusted to his size, but when she opened her eyes and nodded, he let his self-control break and began to thrust.

Ben's pace was hard and fast, and Rey moaned loudly below him, almost overwhelmed by the pleasure that was coursing through her. She massaged her clit as quickly as she could, trying to get herself to that ultimate pleasure again. Ben grabbed onto her blouse and ripped it open, leaning down to suck and bite at her nipples. They were both in a state that only the other had been able to bring out of them, and it was everything that they'd ever wanted. Ben was the first to fall over the edge, thrusting a final time as he came hard. Rey followed him a moment later, and then they were laying there gasping for air, as content as they felt they could be.

That's when Rey realized she was in love with Ben.

But she didn't say a thing, not wanting to ruin the moment because it was too soon. It had only been six weeks. It had to be too soon.

Eventually, Ben moved off of Rey and stood up, laughing at the state of them. Rey's blouse was ruined, her skirt bunched up around her waist, her hair a mess. He could only imagine that he looked in a similar fashion, his pants still around his ankles, his shirt half open.

They were the definition of debauched and he absolutely loved it.

“Mm, Mr. Solo, what got into you?” Rey murmured, lowering her legs. “It was like you flipped a switch once we got into the elevator and went from a businessman to a sex god.”

Ben chuckled. “Sex god?”

“After that performance, you're goddamn right. Sex god.”

Ben laughed fully as he kicked his pants off. “I'll happily take that title.”

“I'm serious though,” Rey said. “What got into you?”

Ben took care of the condom and then headed towards the bar so he could put it in the trash. “I wanted to make up for ruining your life. I hope that at least started to do that.”

“Ben, you haven't ruined my life. I promise.”

“You don't understand how things are going to change for you.”

“And you don't seem to understand that if I wasn't willing to go through them for you then I wouldn't be here,” Rey said seriously. “I would have left early this morning when you were asleep if that was the case.”

Ben sighed. “Your life is gone, Rey. The moment they find out your name, it's gone forever.”

“Good.”

Ben looked at her like she was crazy as he walked back towards her. “What?”

“I am perfectly fine with my life as I know it being gone because my life sucks, Ben,” Rey said. “Do you know how long I've been needing a job? Do you know how desperate things had gotten for me to agree to work for Resistance? Because it was fucking awful. Until we made the long-term arrangement, I could barely pay for food, let alone pay off some of my bills. The fifty thousand dollars that you'd paid me before that was gone in an instant because of those bills. And that doesn't even include my student loans, loans for a degree that can't get me a job that lets me pay those bills.

“I was so close to being evicted that I can't even express it. My landlord is extremely gracious but had told me that I had to pay everything I owed that month or I was gone, and I was six months behind on rent. I was trying to pay off bills from every emergency room visit that I'd ever had to have because of that abusive motherfucker too.”

“Rey,” Ben said, unsure of what to say.

“I was so desperate that I agreed to be paid for sex, Ben. You have paid me millions of dollars so that you and only you could fuck me.”

“I know,” Ben breathed out. “And I'm sorry that we had to meet like that.”

“I'm not, not really,” Rey replied. “There is no way in a trillion years that I would have ever met you if I hadn't started working at Resistance. And meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Right,” Ben said warily, suddenly terrified of what that meant. “Who wouldn't want to be with Ben Solo.”

Rey sighed and climbed off the sofa, making Ben look at her. “I could not give a fuck about Ben Solo. I care about Ben. I love Ben.”

She closed her eyes when she realized what she'd said. “Fuck.”

Ben found it hard to breathe. “You love me?”

“It's absurd, I know,” Rey started, but Ben cut her off with a deep kiss.

“God, Rey, I love you too,” he said when they parted. “I know it's quick, but my grandmother always has told me that you fall in love quickly when you meet the right one, and I've known that was you for weeks.”

“Ben,” Rey got out before he was kissing her again.

When Ben finally let Rey speak, she gave him a weak smile. “That's really overwhelming, Ben. I mean, seriously overwhelming. I don't know how to feel about that, actually.”

Ben closed his eyes and tried to remind himself that it had only been six weeks. If Rey wasn't there yet, then that was fine. He'd woo her the way she deserved until she felt the same way.

She had to eventually feel the same way. He didn't know what he'd do if she didn't.

“I understand,” Ben finally said. “I really do. Too much too soon and all of that.”

Rey reached out and caressed the side of his face. “We haven't even voided the contract yet. You're still technically paying me for sex. We cannot possibly be at the 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you' stage yet. I'm not saying we won't get there, but we're not there yet.”

“Right,” Ben said, nodding. “I won't bring it up again.”

Rey smiled. “I'm really flattered that you think that, but it's just too soon.”

“I don't think you know how special you are,” Ben murmured, kissing her again. “So I'm just going to prove that to you.”

Rey swallowed hard. “You need to make those phone calls. I need to call Rose too.”

“I need a shower first,” Ben said, sliding his arms around Rey's waist. “Would you like to join me?”

Rey knew the thing to do after the conversation they'd just had was to say no, but she couldn't resist the man who could play her body like no other. “I'd be more than happy to, Mr. Solo.”


	8. Chapter 8

The phone rang just as Rey was closing the door to her apartment and she reached for it after tossing her bag to the floor. She looked at the display and saw that it was Rose, knew that she couldn’t avoid that phone call anymore, and answered it. “Hello?”

“Are you alright?” came Rose’s frantic voice. “Because I have been calling and calling and calling and you haven’t been answering.”

“I’m fine,” Rey soothed. “Well, I don’t think that’s entirely accurate because everything that I knew is changed now, but I’ll deal with it.”

“Are you at home?”

“Literally just walked in the door,” Rey said, heading towards her kitchen.

“Then I’ll be there in a few minutes. We need to talk.”

“Yeah,” Rey breathed out. “We do.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“I’m not sure that’s true but I just don’t know what to think about some things.”

“Then I’ll be right there. Give me ten.”

“See you then,” Rey said, hanging up the phone and opening up her refrigerator. 

She searched through it for the right things to make a sandwich, and she was halfway through it when the door to her apartment opened and Rose walked inside. “I’m surprised that Finn’s not with you.”

“He’s at work,” Rose said, walking into the kitchen and seeing the bottle of whiskey sitting there. “Rey, it’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“I don’t care,” Rey said, reaching for her glass. “Holy fuck, everything’s changed now, and I tried to tell myself that this was all okay, and I tried to tell Ben the same thing, but fuck, I’m not sure that it is.”

Rose walked over to the cabinet and got herself a glass. “If you’re getting drunk then I’m getting drunk with you.”

“I’m not getting drunk. Ben’s driver will be here to pick me up at six.”

Rose spun around to look at her. “You cannot seriously be keeping up your arrangement with him when this could so clearly be exposed, right? Because I did not take you for being so stupid.”

“We are not keeping up the arrangement,” Rey said seriously. “We voided the contract this morning before Poe and his wife came over to the penthouse to help us figure all this shit out.”

Rose gave her a confused look as she reached for the bottle of whiskey. “Poe and his wife? What?”

Rey took a deep breath. “Not a word to anyone. Not even Finn.”

“Of course not.”

“Poe is Kes and Shara Dameron’s son, the one who runs Arts Unleashed.”

Rose’s eyes widened. “What?”

“He operates Resistance as a service to protect his high profile friends who use escort services so that they aren’t exposed. Apparently, he started this after another place’s client list was discovered. He uses the money that it makes in Arts Unleashed. Where I now have a job.”

“Wait, what?” Rose said, following Rey when she walked into the living room. “Why do you have a job at Arts Unleashed? They said you weren’t qualified for the position you applied for.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rey muttered, collapsing onto the sofa. “When I met Ben’s mother and grandmother, he told them that I worked for Poe, meaning Arts Unleashed, and that we met through him. Therefore, we need to maintain the illusion so that no one who goes digging on who Ben’s new girlfriend is discovers that I don’t work there.”

Rose sat down next to her. “Ben’s new _girlfriend_?”

“Yes.”

“Rey.”

“I know.”

“Rey.”

“I know.”

“Rey.”

“I really do know.”

“Then what the fuck are you thinking?!”

“I’m officially in love,” Rey made herself say, knowing that Rose wasn’t going to like it. “And he’s in love with me.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Rose exclaimed, standing back up. “You might not get drunk but I clearly need to.”

“Fuck,” Rey said, taking a long sip of her whiskey. “You know how into him I am, and he apparently thinks that I’m the one, and I just...I cannot let him go, Rose. Even if I should just be taking all this money and saying goodbye.”

Rose sat back down while Rey took a bite of her sandwich. “You have lost your fucking mind,” she said eventually. “You’ve officially gone insane.”

“Maybe, but like I told you, he makes me feel like an actual person instead of this empty shell that’s been walking around ever since college. And he is amazing, Rose. I cannot wait for you to meet him.”

Rose reached for the bottle of whiskey and poured herself a glass before knocking it straight back. “You want me to meet Ben fucking Solo, who has been paying you millions of dollars so that he could be the only one who fucks you, because you for some reason believe that he’s serious when he tells you that he’s in love with you. Rey, this is how he gets more sex out of you. Except now it’s free.”

Rey forced herself to take a deep breath. “I can see how you would think that,” she murmured. “But Ben is not like that.”

“Sure he’s not. That’s exactly why he hired women to fuck.”

Rey closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “Maybe he’s lying to me. Maybe. But I’d rather follow this to an inevitable conclusion that humiliates me publicly than give him up.”

“And I’m supposed to just be okay with that?” Rose asked. “Because I’m not. Clients that get attached are dangerous. Getting attached to clients is worse.”

“He’s not a client of mine, not anymore,” Rey said, taking another deep breath.

“This is going to be a disaster. A very public disaster,” Rose declared. “And I am going to be piecing you back together and telling you I told you so at the same time.”

“Maybe,” Rey said, finishing her sandwich and standing up. “But nothing you say is going to change my mind about this.”

Rose poured herself another glass while Rey put her plate in the sink, sighing heavily as she sat back down. “I will do whatever I have to do to help you through this.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, slumping against her side. “I have a lot I need to talk out.”

“Then start talking,” Rose said, looking over at the clock. “And I’ll make sure you’re ready to get to the designated meeting spot by six.”

“His driver is coming here,” Rey said, “and I don’t want to hear anything about it.”

Rose sighed heavily. “Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“Start talking before I get you drunk and talkative.”

“Fine.”

**********

Ben was waiting with champagne when the elevator doors opened and Rey walked in. “Good evening, baby. I hope your day went as well as possible given the circumstances.”

“They know who I am,” Rey said, dropping her purse on the table and holding her phone out. “It popped up on my phone while I was waiting for you to let me up.”

“I’m going to fucking kill someone in media,” Ben said, exchanging one of the glasses in his hands for Rey’s phone. “They’re supposed to inform my secretary of these things so that she can inform me as soon as they happen.”

“Don’t kill anyone,” Rey said seriously. “I’m pretty sure this just happened and there hasn’t been time to inform you yet.”

At that, Ben’s phone buzzed against the bar counter and he walked over to it, setting down Rey’s phone and picking up his own. “Ah, Josephine. Finally.”

“Take a deep breath and calm down before you respond to that,” Rey said, taking a long sip of her champagne. “There’s no need to be so angry.”

“Oh, there’s every reason to be so angry,” Ben growled. “I fucking hate the fucking papers and those trashy magazines and my motherfucking family’s last names. I hate being me so fucking much and I’ve ruined your life and I’m never going to forgive myself for it.”

Rey sighed and walked over to him, setting her glass on the bar and plucking the phone out of his fingers. “You need to stop beating yourself up over this.”

“None of this would be happening if I wasn’t Ben fucking Solo.”

“You and I wouldn’t know each other if you weren’t Ben fucking Solo,” Rey pointed out. “And I quite like the fact that we know each other.”

“I’m sorry,” Ben murmured, pulling Rey into his arms. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Kiss me instead.”

Ben smiled and brought their lips together gently, slowly deepening the kiss. They broke apart after a few moments and Rey reached up to caress the side of his face. “Does the media fucking suck? Yes. Is there anything we can do about it now? No. So just calm down, take a deep breath, forget about it, and enjoy the evening with me.”

Ben took a couple of deep breaths before letting go of Rey and reaching for his phone. “Let me take care of this and then we can enjoy the rest of the evening.”

“That sounds great,” Rey said, picking up her glass and polishing it off. “And I’m stealing your champagne.”

“That’s fine, baby,” Ben murmured as he typed away at his phone. “Whatever makes you happy.”

“Do you know what would make me really happy?” Rey said, waiting until Ben looked up at her. “For you to discover whether or not I’m wearing anything under this dress.”

Ben felt himself harden. “Are you being a fucking tease, Ms. Palpatine?”

“You love me that way, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, draining Ben’s glass in one sip. “I will meet you in the bedroom.”

Before Ben could respond, someone buzzed the penthouse. “Benjamin, we need to talk.”

Ben sighed heavily and walked over to the elevator, pressing the buttons that would give them access to the elevator. “I’m sorry, baby, but this has to take precedence.” 

“Who is that?” Rey asked, suddenly nervous.

“That is my father,” Ben said, swallowing hard. “Let’s just pray that my mother is with him. That will make this go easier.”

Rey felt frozen with fear. “Your father?”

Ben walked back to her and wrapped her in an embrace. “He’ll love you,” he said softly. “And even if he doesn’t immediately, then he will learn to. Sometimes it takes him a while to get used to someone. But even if he doesn’t, that’s not going to change the fact that I love you. I’m always going to love you.”

“Ben,” Rey started, and Ben nodded.

“I know, I know, no talk about how I want you here forever. It’s too soon for that.”

“Just the idea that someone would want to be with me for the rest of their life is so unbelievable that I just…”

“Shh,” Ben murmured. “I get it. Now take a couple of deep breaths. Things are going to go fine. Especially if Mama is with him.”

Ben leaned forward and kissed her, and Rey practically melted against him. When the elevator doors opened a few minutes later, they broke apart quickly and Rey turned to see a man walk into the penthouse, Leia right behind him. 

“Rey, how wonderful to see you again,” Leia said, walking up to her and hugging her. “You really must come for dinner this weekend.”

“Leia,” Han said, and Leia just shook her head. 

“Han, honestly.”

Han looked at Rey for a moment before turning his attention to Ben. “Your office. We need to talk.”

“Of course, Dad,” Ben said, and he gave Rey an encouraging look before walking out of the room with Han.

“Rey, how about we go sit down and get to know one another,” Leia said, and Rey nodded warily. “Nothing to be afraid of. I just want to know this girl that has my son’s head turned inside out. It’s been so long since Ben was like this.”

“So I’ve heard,” Rey said, walking over to the sitting area with Leia and trying to shove down her nerves. “He let me know that it had been a while since he’d done this when we met.”

“I was convinced that this was never going to happen again, to be honest with you,” Leia said as she sat down on the sofa. 

All Rey could think about was how Ben had fucked her there not twelve hours before.

“I can see why you thought that,” Rey said, taking a seat in one of the chairs. “He did mention that he was having a hard time finding someone that he connected with.”

“And then he met you,” Leia said, a wide smile on her face. “How did that happen?”

“It was at Poe and Zorii’s,” Rey said, remembering the story that they’d concocted earlier that day during lunch. “I was there working on a new project that Arts Unleashed is putting together with the Museum of Modern Art, and Ben came over to speak to Poe. The four of us ended up having lunch together and Ben and I just sort of hit it off. I certainly wasn’t expecting anything to come of it, but Ben got my number from Poe and called, and, well, here we are.”

Leia’s smile seemingly grew bigger. “I want to apologize for my comment on your lineage the night we met. I’m just so used to everyone surrounding Ben being a part of our social circle. It never even occurred to me that you might be someone from outside that.”

Rey tried to smile at her. “It’s alright, Mrs. Solo.”

“None of this Mrs. Solo stuff,” Leia said. “You call me Leia.”

“Leia then,” Rey said. “And it really is alright. I didn’t take any offense to it. I’m usually looked down upon so I was kind of used to it.”

Leia just shook her head. “Well, I’m glad that my son is treating you like a goddess then. I can’t remember the last time I had Ben trying to get recipes out of me to make dinner for a woman. The poor boy tries, but he’s not the best cook in the world.”

Rey smiled for real. “I quite like everything he’s made me so far. He’s even started letting me help, which is nice. I felt bad whenever he did it all by himself.”

“Oh, you like his cooking!” Leia exclaimed. “No wonder he thinks you’re the one.”

Rey swallowed hard. “I don’t know about that.”

“He does, trust me,” Leia said, sighing. “I do hope Han is being easy on him. He never likes it when Ben ends up in the papers because of a woman. I tried to set him straight on the way over here, but you just never know when it comes to Han. He’s unpredictable.”

“Ben has mentioned that their relationship is a little difficult,” Rey said carefully, and Leia laughed.

“Their relationship is downright tumultuous. They love each other. That’s certain. But, oh, do they fight. It doesn’t help that they already fought the other day about the company. Now, before that’s been resolved, this has unfortunately ended up in the papers. That’s enough for them to explode,” Leia said. “That’s why it’s much better that they went into the office and we’re here.”

Rey nodded just as Han came walking back into the room. “Leia, it’s time to go.”

“I sincerely hope you didn’t just make a difficult situation worse for him,” Leia said as she stood. 

“I made my position perfectly clear,” Han said gruffly. “Now let’s go.”

“Allow me to say goodbye to Rey,” Leia said firmly, and Rey stood up.

“It was nice to see you again, Leia,” Rey said quietly, and Leia hugged her again. 

“I meant what I said about dinner this weekend. And take care, okay? Ending up in the papers like this can be a big deal. Let Ben help you with that. He knows how to handle this better than I would assume you do.”

“I will,” Rey murmured.

Leia let go of her and turned back to Han, walking with him to the elevator. “Where is Ben? I’d like to say goodbye.”

“Where do you think?” Han exclaimed. “Now let’s go.”

The elevator doors opened and Han stepped inside, so Leia turned to Rey. “Go find my son. He’ll need some comfort right now.”

Leia stepped into the elevator and once the doors were closed, Rey headed in the direction of Ben’s office. She reached it just in time to hear something inside shatter, and she carefully walked into the room. “Ben?”

“I fucking hate him so much right now,” Ben practically growled, picking up another breakable thing and hurling it across the room, watching it shatter against the wall. “Like I chose for this to happen. Like the fact that you’re not from some prestigious family is a fucking problem. I told you, I hate what being me means, and this is part of it. I’m supposed to follow some unwritten bullshit rules just because everyone thinks that someone from a wealthy family will understand how to handle the wealth that comes with marrying me. Fuck every single one of those motherfucking rules. I just want you, dammit.”

Rey carefully walked around the desk and pulled Ben into her arms, kissing him softly. “He’ll come around.”

“I don’t know about that,” Ben said, sighing heavily. “I want him to love you the way I do, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“This was the first time that we met. He didn’t say a single word to me. The next time will be better.”

“We’ll see,” Ben said, kissing Rey deeply. “I don’t care if I have his approval or not. You are what I want.”

“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Rey murmured. “Let’s concentrate on our evening.”

Ben grinned. “Yes, let’s. I have an idea actually.”

“And what idea is this?”

“Well, I was going to save it for dessert, but since I think we’re both in need of relaxing now, why not skip ahead to dessert.”

“I am confused.”

“I have a thing of chocolate sauce,” Ben said, sliding his fingers underneath the bottom of Rey's dress. “And I’d like to know how it tastes on your skin.”

Rey felt shivers go down her spine. “So long as I get to taste it on yours too.”

Ben kissed her passionately. “I am okay with that.”

“And then a very long soak in your enormous bathtub because we will be unbelievably sticky,” Rey added, making Ben laugh.

“I am okay with that too.”

“Then go get the chocolate sauce and meet me in the bedroom, where you can finally discover whether or not I’m wearing anything under this dress,” Rey said, breaking away from him and heading to the door. “And spoiler alert, Mr. Solo. The answer is no.”

Ben felt himself get harder as Rey walked out the door, and he took a deep breath before heading to the kitchen. It was time to worship Rey like the goddess that she was and try to make some of what was about to happen up to her.


	9. Chapter 9

Ben was leaning up against the counter sipping at a cup of coffee when Rey came into the kitchen wearing nothing but one of his shirts, and it just made him smile. She was there because she wanted to be, not because of a contractual obligation, and the fact that she wanted to be with him remained Ben’s favorite thing in the history of the world. 

Rey really was everything he’d ever wanted. Nothing was ever going to change that.

“Good morning,” he murmured. “Want some coffee?”

Rey shook her head as she walked up to him, leaning in to kiss him soundly. “No, I’m not in the mood for coffee yet.”

“Then what are you in the mood for?” Ben asked. “I’m pretty sure I have some orange juice in the refrigerator. I really need to get Josephine to arrange for some groceries to be delivered. I’m running out of things that can be quickly made into a meal.”

Rey trailed kisses down the side of Ben’s neck as she slid her hands across the bare skin of his chest. “I don’t need orange juice,” she mumbled into his skin. “I was thinking something saltier than that.”

Ben hardened quickly once he realized what she wanted to do. “You woke up wanting to blow me?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve done it,” Rey said, letting her tongue glide along his collarbone. “And since you seem to like me doing it so much, I’ve started to actually enjoy it.”

Ben quickly set his cup on the counter. “Really? Because I know that you hated it when we first started seeing each other.”

Rey wanted to correct him about his phrasing, thinking they could hardly call the way they met the beginning of them seeing each other, but she didn’t. “Yes,” she said, slowly dropping to her knees. “Let me get these down.”

Rey reached for the top of Ben’s sweatpants so he pushed off from the counter to allow her to pull them down. His cock sprang free as she lowered them and Rey leaned forward and licked at the head quickly, making Ben moan. “Fuck, how do you feel good already?”

“Because you love me like this, Mr. Solo,” Rey said before leaning forward again.

She licked along the underside from base to tip, smiling when she heard Ben moan above her. She wrapped her hand around the base before closing her lips around the head, slowly taking more of him into her mouth. She set an easy, almost lazy pace as she bobbed her head, slowly bringing Ben’s level of arousal up. Soft groans started spilling from Ben’s lips and Rey took encouragement from the way that his hips began to slowly, shallowly thrust in her direction.

She picked up the pace and began to take Ben deeper, relaxing her throat as best she could and then taking him as deep as she dared on every stroke. Ben’s moans grew with each passing second, but Rey was still keeping him on the edge, not quite ready to bring him all the way. She pulled back, circling her tongue around the head for several moments before taking him as far as she could and then swallowing around him.

“Holy fuck, Rey,” Ben exclaimed. “Oh fuck.”

Rey took him that deep and did it again, and she reached out to push Ben’s hips back against the cabinets when his thrusts became too much. Ben was having a hard time standing and reached back to grab onto the counter for support. Rey pulled back and licked her lips before taking him down again, this time setting a much faster pace. Beautiful, delicious moans were coming from above her as she felt Ben’s fingers tangle into her hair, then she took him as deep as she could and swallowed around him again.

Ben let out the sexiest moan Rey had ever heard as he came, the salty fluid hitting her tongue as she pulled back. His cock slipped from her lips before Ben was finished, a few threads of come landing on her face, and Ben thought he might come again just from the sight. But he knew that Rey wasn’t comfortable with him coming on her face, so his initial reaction was to apologize. “Fuck, I know you didn’t want me to do that. I’m sorry,” he got out in between catching his breath. “I’ll get you a towel or something and we can wash your face off.”

Rey just grinned and looked up at Ben. His skin was flushed and his eyes were wide as she collected some of the come with her finger and then sucked it clean, and she smiled when she heard him curse lowly. “It’s alright, Ben,” she got out, her voice rough from how deep she’d taken him. “Maybe next time I’ll let it happen.”

Ben’s dick hardened again, and Rey laughed as she swiped up more of the come, and by the time that she’d cleaned herself off, Ben needed to fuck her badly. “Please tell me you brought a condom with you.”

“Shirt pocket,” Rey said as she stood back up. “How do you want to do this?”

Ben looked around for a moment before leading Rey over to the island that stood in the middle of the kitchen. He shoved everything that was on it to the floor, ignoring the crashing noise to pick Rey up and set her on top of it. He climbed up there with her and settled in between her legs, running a hand up her inner thigh until he was sliding a finger into her and making Rey shudder. “Fuck, you are so wet already. God, you have no idea how much your willingness makes you sexy.”

“I think you might be the first person who has ever thought that I’m sexy,” Rey said, gasping when Ben added a second finger. 

“Then they were fucking blind,” Ben said, bending down to kiss her hard. “Because you are the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Rey thrust back against his fingers as they moved in and out of her, trying to get some friction on her clit. But Ben wasn’t giving her any, and she quickly became frustrated. “Ben, please,” she pleaded. “Please.”

“Please what, Rey?” Ben asked. “You have to say it.”

“Please touch me,” she moaned. “Please.”

Ben stopped his hand. “You’ve been taking my fingers, Rey. They’re buried inside you right now. I am touching you.”

Rey laid their gasping for air, but she knew that things would be so much better if Ben just massaged her clit. “Not where I meant.”

“Then where did you mean?” Ben asked, curling his fingers within her and beginning to stroke her walls. “I won’t do it until you tell me where.”

Rey moaned loudly when Ben’s fingers found the right spot within her, and she started wondering if she could come without having her clit touched at all. But she didn’t want that. “My clit. Please touch my clit,” she begged. “Please, Mr. Solo.”

“Since you begged so prettily, you get rewarded,” Ben said, his thumb coming down onto her clit and massaging it furiously. 

Rey was screaming out her climax after a few moments, and Ben let her come down a little from the high before he pulled his hand away. Instead of licking his fingers clean, he wiped them off with the shirt Rey was wearing before pulling it open and beginning to kiss and nip along her nipples. 

“Fuck,” Rey eventually said, and Ben laughed into her skin. 

“You know, that’s a good idea,” he said, sitting up and reaching into the shirt’s pocket for the condom. 

Ben quickly tore the condom wrapper and rolled the latex on, and then Rey opened her legs as wide as she could as he positioned himself. He slowly pushed into her, savoring the feeling of her heat around his dick, and when he was buried, he leaned down and kissed her deeply. Rey was getting more used to the stretch that was needed to accommodate his massive cock, but it still took her a few moments to adjust to the initial intrusion. When she felt ready, she looked into Ben’s eyes and nodded. “Ready, Mr. Solo.”

Ben grinned and pulled out, slamming back in and making Rey scream in pleasure. He set a hard and fast pace, fucking Rey with everything he had until she was writhing beneath him. He saw Rey’s hand move to massage her clit but he captured it in his own, reaching out to pin her hand above her head. “Ben,” she moaned. “Please.”

“Wait, baby,” Ben said, reaching for her other hand and moving it above her head too. “Keep your hands above your head and I’ll reward you for being a good girl.”

Rey gasped as Ben thrust especially deep but then nodded. “Whatever you need me to do, Mr. Solo.”

She’d never thought she’d be willing to play along when her sexual partner got a little dominant because she was definitely no submissive, but when Ben got into a mood like he was apparently in, Rey got incredibly excited. Whenever it was that he’d allow her to move her arms, Rey was guaranteed to have one of the best orgasms she’d ever had. 

Ben slowed the pace of his thrusts, trying to draw things out as long as he could, but Rey was so intoxicating that he soon was thrusting hard again. He sat back and reached down, letting his fingers lightly brush over Rey’s clit. She was moaning steadily below him, her eyes staring up at him as though he’d hung the stars. 

Fuck, she was so perfect.

He felt the tension ratchet up within him so he increased the pressure on her clit and soon they were both shaking with the force of their climaxes. Ben reached out to catch himself before he collapsed onto Rey, and she brought her arms down to tangle in his hair, slowly lowering him to her. They laid there quietly for a moment before Ben turned his head to kiss her. “You are so fucking perfect,” he said in between breaths. “Perfect mouth, perfect pussy, perfect everything. You’re just perfect.”

“I’m far from perfect, Ben.”

“In your eyes, perhaps. But in mine, you’re perfect. Everything I have ever searched for.” Ben kissed her again. “I think we’re going to be laying here for a bit. I don’t think I can stand right now.”

“That’s alright. I’m not sure I could stand right now either.”

“And then once we’re dressed, we need to find some sort of disinfectant something to clean the counter with,” Ben mumbled, making Rey laugh.

“Don’t worry about that right now. And surely you own some sort of cleaning supplies that will work.”

“I hope so,” Ben said, shifting around until he was comfortable against her. “Is this alright?”

“Just fine,” Rey said, slowly stroking his scalp. 

Ben closed his eyes, concentrated on the sound of her heartbeat and the movement of her fingers, and decided that all was right in the world.

**********

Rey took a deep breath as Ben pulled the car up in front of the building, looking up at the sign. This was it. This was the beginning of another chapter in her life, the chapter where she got to actually live out her dream of working at Arts Unleashed.

She just wished she was there under different circumstances. But that couldn’t change now.

“You’re going to do great, baby,” Ben said, smiling at her when Rey turned to look at him. “I know it.”

“I’m really nervous,” Rey admitted. “I have to go in there and sell to these people that I’ve been working on this project offsite with Zorii for the last three months.”

“And you can do it just fine,” Ben said. “You’ve memorized everything Zorii sent over to get you up to speed on the project. You’re going to kill this once you’re in there. I know it.’

Rey took a couple of deep breaths. “Kiss me.”

Ben leaned over and kissed Rey deeply. “Get in there. I’ve got a meeting I can’t be late for.”

Rey nodded, took a deep breath, and got out of the car. Ben rolled the window down once the door was closed, and Rey turned around to see him. “I love you,” Ben said. “Just remember that.”

A smile came involuntarily to Rey’s face. “I love you too.”

“I know,” Ben said. “I’ll see you later.”

He drove off before Rey could say anything, and she turned back to the building. She took a deep breath, smoothed down her skirt, and then headed for the door. Once she was inside, she looked around at the space, various shapes in bright colors covering the walls, and she felt at home. 

This was what she had always wanted. She couldn’t believe that she actually had it.

“Hello, welcome to Arts Unleashed. What can I do for you?” came a familiar voice, and Rey blinked twice. 

“I’m here to see Zorii Dameron,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. Kaydel had no idea what she looked like and Poe had assured her that no one who knew who she was from Resistance would ever say a thing or he’d destroy them. 

“And your name?” Kaydel asked.

“Rey Palpatine,” she said, hoping that Kaydel wouldn’t put things together. 

“Alright, here you are, Ms. Palpatine. If you could just have a seat, Mrs. Dameron will be out in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, walking over to the sitting area. 

She looked around at the art supplies that were placed around the chairs, obviously meant to entertain the children who came in. She reached for a piece of paper and a marker before she realized it, and she was halfway into a drawing of a daisy when she heard her name. 

She looked up to see Zorii walking towards her, so she stood and started to fold the drawing to put in her purse, but Zorii saw it first. “Is that a flower?” Zorii asked. “Can I see it?”

Rey took a deep breath and handed the paper over, nerves coursing through her. “It’s not finished.”

Zorii smiled as she looked at it. “It’s beautiful. I can’t wait to see it completed. You have quite the talent. I know I’ve told you that before, but I really do mean it.”

Rey realized that this was part of the cover story that she had, so she just smiled and nodded. “I will have to show you when it's done then.”

“Great. Let’s go back to the meeting room so we can prepare for the meeting with the MOMA executive tomorrow.”

Tomorrow? Rey was freaking out. “Of course,” she said, following Zorii to a door. 

They went inside and once the door was shut, Zorii turned to her with a smile. “Things are going to be just fine, Rey, okay? Have faith in what I’m doing.”

Rey nodded. “I’ll try.”

“Good. Now, let’s get down to business before Beaumont joins us to talk about this meeting tomorrow.”

Rey sat down in one of the chairs and took a deep breath. “Am I going to have to be involved in that?”

“You’ll need to be in the room, but don’t worry, I’ll be doing all the talking. You can just make notes of what’s going on.” Zorii sat down next to Rey. “Did you look through that information I left at Ben’s for you?”

“Memorized it,” Rey replied. “I didn’t want to blow this cover.”

“Excellent. Then we should be able to dive right into this and you’ll understand where we’re at during this stage of the project.”

Rey nodded and Zorii reached for some papers and then they fell into a deep discussion about schoolchildren and the Museum of Modern Art and field trips and workshops. Zorii was immediately impressed by Rey’s knowledge of the situation and ideas for how to make it work better, and she noted internally to find out who had told Rey she wasn’t qualified enough to work there.

She was quite clearly overqualified to work there.

Rey was just finishing explaining how she thought the workshops would work better if they took place at the museum instead of the schools when Zorii interrupted her. “I cannot believe that someone told you that you weren’t good enough to work here. I can already tell that you’re too good to work here.”

Rey felt her cheeks warm. “Thank you.”

“You’re going to be a vital part of the team going forward,” Zorii said, smiling at her. “I mean that seriously.” 

“Thank you,” Rey said, picking up the papers in front of her. “Should we talk more about what activities could be done in these workshops?”

“Absolutely,” Zorii said as the door opened and a man walked in. “You and Ben have to join Poe and me for dinner soon. Ah, Beaumont. I was wondering when you were going to come in.”

“I was waiting for a phone call from the executive,” Beaumont said, sitting down across from them. “You must be Rey. I’m Beaumont.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Rey said, and Zorii smiled.

“Rey’s had all kinds of good ideas since she heard the new plans. So let’s go over them so we’re all prepared for the meeting.”

“Sounds great,” Rey said. “I’m excited for Beaumont to hear my thoughts.”

“Me too,” Zorii said. 

Zorii started talking about Rey’s ideas and Rey tried to relax into the conversation. This was her dream. Maybe she deserved this opportunity, no matter how she got it. She was going to make the most of this, no matter how hard she needed to work to do it. She needed to sell that this was a job that she had on merit.

Even if this was torturous, Rey was going to deal with it and move on.

She’d do anything to be able to be with Ben.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long but I needed a few days off from writing.

Rey settled into the passenger seat and once her seatbelt was buckled, Ben merged back into traffic and sped away. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the seat, unable to believe what had happened that day. She’d met the CEO of the Museum of Modern Art, and he had told her that her ideas for this project she’d supposedly been working on for months were good ones. 

This was her dream. This was what she’d always wanted. She should be ecstatic.

But she wasn’t.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Ben said after a few minutes. “Did the meeting not go well?”

“No, it went fine,” Rey murmured. “He loved my ideas.”

Ben smiled at her. “That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah,” Rey said quietly. “It is.”

Ben gave her a confused look before turning his attention back to the road. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Nothing,” Rey said, shaking her head and forcing a smile onto her face.

“Rey, tell me what’s wrong,” Ben said. “Please.”

“Nothing,” Rey said again, and Ben decided to wait until she was ready to tell him on her own.

“May I please drive you home then?” he asked instead. “Not that I don’t trust Mitaka because I do, but I would like to take you home myself.”

Rey swallowed hard. “I don’t want you to see how I live.”

“It’s not going to make me think any different about you,” Ben said as he slowed the car to a stop. “I promise.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Rey, I love you. Nothing is going to change that.”

Rey stayed silent as Ben started driving again, and after a few minutes, she realized that he was heading to Brooklyn. “Ben, you are going in the wrong direction.”

“They already know who you are, Rey. There’s absolutely no reason that I can’t go to your apartment.”

“I know,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “But I really do mean it when I say I don’t want you to see how I live.”

“My entire life has been spent living in the highest luxury imaginable,” Ben said after a moment. “I have never seen what a normal apartment looks like. I’m curious. But if you don’t want me to go there then I won’t. It’ll probably take me a few minutes to find a good place to turn around, but I will.”

Rey looked over at him. “You’ve never been inside a regular apartment?”

“No, I have not,” Ben confirmed. “But you don’t want me in yours and that’s fine.”

Rey took a deep breath and put her hand on Ben’s knee. “You can drive me home and then see my apartment. But just be prepared to be very aware of how poor I was before I met you. The place is a disaster.”

“Then why don’t you move?” Ben asked. “Surely you have enough money to buy out what’s left of your lease.”

“Yes, I do, but if I move then I won’t be close to Rose and Finn, and I really want to be as close to them as possible. Before I had you, all I had was them.”

“What about your other friends?”

“I don’t have any,” Rey said softly. “All I have is the three of you. And Rose is really unhappy about me being with you.”

Ben took a deep breath. “So she knows how we met then?”

“Yes, but only because she’s the one who got me the job at Resistance,” Rey explained. “She used to work there.”

“If she used to work there, then she clearly made a lot of money, so why is she living in this disaster of a building that you think you live in?”

“Well, a lot of that money went to paying off her bills,” Rey said. “But that’s where Finn lived when she decided to move in with him, and then we met each other and became close really quickly. They are waiting until the end of Finn’s lease to move, and I figured I would move when they did. Get as close to them as possible.”

“I could make all of that happen, you know,” Ben replied. “I could make it so you two are neighbors in a good building not that far from mine.”

Rey closed her eyes. “Ben, I am not letting you spend millions of dollars on buying the three of us apartments.”

“I wouldn’t be,” Ben said seriously. “I already own them.”

Rey looked over at him. “What?”

“One of them is the place that I lived in before I decided to buy the penthouse,” Ben informed her. “The other is the one I bought so that I’d have the whole floor to myself. I didn’t want to deal with nosy neighbors that could just sell information about me to the papers.”

Rey blinked a couple of times. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Ben said, looking over at her. “Just think about it, okay? I don’t want you to do something you’re uncomfortable with.”

Rey nodded before giving him a small smile. “Your grandmother taught you that, didn’t she?”

“Taught me what?”

“To make sure that you weren’t making someone do something they were uncomfortable with,” Rey said. “You say that to me all the time and Padmé said it to me too.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Yes, she did. Let’s just say there was an incident in her past where someone forced her to do something she was uncomfortable with. Not rape or anything like that, but something. And so she has always taught her children and then me to never put someone in a position where they are uncomfortable. So if you really don’t want me to take you home, then I won’t. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

Rey squeezed Ben’s knee. “You are so considerate. I was really not expecting that from you, to be perfectly honest.”

“After the things the papers printed after that motherfucking bitch did her tell-all with them, then I’m not surprised by that. But I’m not like that.” 

“I know you’re not now, but I wasn’t sure then,” Rey said, giving him a genuine smile. “And yes, you can take me home. I just want you to be prepared to be very underwhelmed by what you see. It’s not great.”

“We’ll see about that,” Ben said, smiling back. “You’re going to have to guide me to it. I don’t know the streets of Brooklyn very well.”

“Don’t worry, that’s not a problem.”

Rey guided Ben to her building and swallowed hard as he parked in one of the guest spots. “So, um, this is it.”

“It looks,” Ben said, pausing, “charming.”

“It’s a disaster. You can just say it.”

“Well, it definitely needs some paint, that’s for sure,” Ben said. “Do you want me to go up to your apartment? Because if you don’t, then I won’t.”

Rey took a deep breath before nodding. “Better to just get this over with now because I know that you’re going to keep asking if you can, especially if I start letting you drive me here and pick me up.”

“I’m serious, Rey,” Ben said firmly. “If you don’t want me to go up there, then I won’t.”

Rey closed her eyes, took another deep breath, and made a decision. “Only if you fuck me once we’re up there.”

“Rey,” Ben replied. “I have that party at the Blisses to go to. I don’t have time for that.”

Rey turned to look at him. “Then you’re not coming up to my apartment,” she said. “And this is your only chance to do so. You say no to this, then I’ll never let you up there.”

“Rey…”

“Surely you can miss one of these parties?” Rey asked. “I need you tonight, Ben. Please.”

Ben took a deep breath before reaching for his seatbelt. “I’ve got to call Zorii and let her know that I won’t be there. She’ll come up with some good reason for why that is. She’s best at that.”

Rey grinned and got out of the car, noticing one of her neighbors staring at them. “What the fuck are you looking at?”

The woman quickly hurried to her car and Rey just shook her head. “I would be ready for there to be a headline about you being at my apartment tomorrow, which means they will probably have my address.”

“I’ll take care of that.” Ben walked over to Rey and took her by the hand. “Don’t worry about that.”

“I have to worry about that,” Rey murmured, but she led Ben into the building and then the elevator. “You’re going to take care of this how?”

“Well, I could just have you moved into the apartment I mentioned earlier,” Ben said, watching as she chose the button for the eleventh floor. “I could do the same with Rose and Finn.”

“Trust me, Rose would take that help very reluctantly. She hates that I’m doing this,” Rey said, leaning up against the wall. “Ben, that’s a big deal. Like, a really big deal.”

“I know it is, and if you’re not comfortable with it, then fine. I’ll just threaten the papers then.”

Rey sighed heavily. “I don’t want you threatening anyone.”

“It’s just with legal action, Rey. It’s not like I’m threatening their lives.”

“I still don’t want you threatening anyone.”

Ben rubbed his hands over his face. “Then maybe someone in media will have a better idea of how to handle it. But I am not letting them camp out in front of your building waiting to catch us together.”

Rey swallowed hard. “They’d do that?”

“Yes, they would,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “They’ve been outside the building every day for the past week. I’ve just exited the underground garage in a way that has kept you from seeing them.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about that?” Rey exclaimed. “Fucking hell, Ben. I need to know these things.”

“I was worried it would scare you off,” Ben said as the elevator slowed. “And I don’t want to scare you off.”

Rey didn’t say anything as the doors opened, walking out into the hallway. She led Ben down it and stopped at a door, quickly sliding her key into the lock and getting them inside. Once the door was shut and locked, she turned around and shoved Ben so hard that he had trouble staying on his feet. “I need to know these things! You need to tell me these things! I don’t give a fuck if you think it’s going to scare me off or not. I cannot be walking around thinking I’m safe from things when I’m not!”

“You’re right, baby. I’m sorry. I’m just trying so hard to protect you from all this,” Ben said, walking up to Rey. “I promise I will tell you about things like this from now on.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, and Ben wrapped his arms around her. “I just need to have an idea of what’s actually happening to me, okay? It’s the only way I’m going to be able to handle this.”

“I’ll tell you,” Ben said softly. “I promise.”

Rey nodded and kissed Ben before looking around. “So, um, this is the apartment.”

Ben let go of Rey and looked around. There was a tiny kitchen with a table that led straight into a small sitting area that had stains on the ceiling and the walls. There were two doors, one off the kitchen and one on the other end of the apartment, and he assumed those were for a bathroom and her bedroom. It was....something. 

And it definitely wasn’t good enough for the goddess that was Rey.

“It’s, um,” Ben said as he tried to think of how to phrase it, but Rey just laughed.

“Told you it was a disaster.”

“Do I even want to know what those are stains of?” Ben asked as he looked at them again. 

“I have no idea and I would prefer not to think about how they got here,” Rey said, taking Ben by the hand and leading him towards one of the doors. “I really need you to fuck me now.’

Ben smiled as they walked into her bedroom, and looking around at the size of it, he decided that her entire apartment could likely fit into his bedroom. How she lived in some space so small, he didn’t know.

But then again, this was how most people lived. Ben lived in absolute luxury.

Rey’s bed was much smaller than his own, and she let go of his hand to turn around to face him. “So, this room is a disaster, but I don’t care about that.”

“Then what do you care about?”

“Either your incredibly talented tongue or your massive cock getting me off,” Rey said, reaching for her blouse. “And the sooner the better.”

Ben let out a small laugh but then reached to take off his suit coat. “Which would you prefer?”

“Both,” Rey said, smiling at him as she peeled her shirt off. “I need you to get undressed faster.”

Ben laughed loudly that time and got his shirt off, fumbling around with his belt until he could get his pants shoved down. He kicked them and his shoes off as Rey dropped her skirt and panties to the floor, and then he reached for her, kissing her passionately. “Get on the bed,” he said, and Rey grinned at him. 

“I would like your tongue first,” Rey said, reaching down and wrapping a hand around his cock. “And then this.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Fuck, I don’t have any condoms.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Rey said as she climbed onto the bed. “I have a whole box of them.”

Ben sighed in relief. “Good, because I didn’t think we were there yet.”

“We’re not,” Rey confirmed. “Now get to work, Mr. Solo. I need to forget everything right now.”

“Are you going to tell me about this meeting yet?” Ben asked, taking stock of the space available to him before kneeling in front of her bed. “Your bed is very small.”

“Your bed is fucking custom built so that it fits the space in the cavern that is your bedroom appropriately,” Rey pointed out. “I honestly think your bed is bigger than this entire room.”

Ben chuckled as he reached out, pulling Rey closer to him. “I don’t know about that, but it is a lot bigger than yours, that’s for sure.”

Rey gasped as Ben ran his thumb up and down her pussy before parting her folds and slipping a finger into her. “So wet, baby. You’re always so wet.”

“You keep me this way, Mr. Solo,” Rey said, sighing happily when the finger began to thrust in and out of her. “Fuck, I need this.”

“You said the meeting went well. But did it really not?” Ben asked, pressing kisses to her inner thigh. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“The meeting was fine,” Rey said, gasping when Ben suddenly slid another finger into her. “Your tongue, please.”

“Not until you tell me why you had such a bad day if the meeting went well.”

Rey whined but she knew she had to tell Ben the truth. “I just hate that I have this job and I didn’t earn it. Zorii can tell me every day that if she’d been the one that interviewed me that I would have been hired after a couple of sentences, but I didn’t earn this. I wanted to earn it.”

“You earned it, baby,” Ben said, trailing his kisses closer to her perfect pussy. “Because Zorii would have ended this after a couple of days if she thought that you weren’t good enough to work there. Arts Unleashed is her baby. She wouldn’t want someone below standards working on this MOMA project. Trust me on that.”

Rey went to speak but Ben began to lick at her, and she moaned instead. “Oh fuck, you feel good.”

Ben pulled back for a moment. “You taste good.”

He pulled his fingers from her and lapped at her, tonguing her entrance for a few moments before bringing his lips up to wrap around her stiff clit. He sucked as he slid the fingers back into Rey, and her moans above him gave Ben an indication as to how close Rey was. When he felt her start shaking, he pulled back abruptly, making Rey groan.

“Ben, please,” she got out, almost breathless.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to fuck it out of you,” he said, looking around. “Condoms?”

“In there,” Rey said, motioning to the bedside table. “And you’re a motherfucking bastard.”

“It'll be amazing, baby,” Ben said, standing up and opening the table’s drawer, finding an open box of condoms there. “Fuck.”

“What?” Rey asked as Ben retrieved one of them from the box.

Ben climbed onto the bed after Rey slid further onto it, settling in between her legs and tearing the condom wrapper open. “Nothing.”

“Fuck that. It’s something. What is it?”

“It’s silly.”

“I don’t care. What is it?”

“The condom box was open,” Ben murmured as he rolled the latex onto his dick. “It just made me realize something and I hate it.”

“And what would that be?”

Ben took a deep breath and then pulled Rey closer to him. “You’ve just fucked other guys here before and I don’t like that. As I said, it’s silly.”

“Ben, look at me,” Rey said, and so he met her gaze. “They don’t matter. You do. Besides, you’re going to be the only man who ever fucks me in this bed again. Keep that in mind.”

Ben grinned and lined himself up, bending down to kiss Rey deeply. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Rey responded. “Now fuck me already, you lousy motherfucker.”

Ben laughed but slowly slid into her, pausing until Rey let him know that she was ready. He thrust slowly at first, keeping Rey on the edge, until she kicked him in the side. “What?”

“Fucking fuck me already, Mr. Solo. None of this slow shit,” Rey got out, and Ben laughed.

“As you wish, my love,” he said, pulling out and then slamming back in, his pace suddenly hard and fast. 

“Oh, fuck yes, Mr. Solo,” Rey moaned, furiously massaging her clit. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

Rey screamed out her climax after a few moments, and then she stared up at Ben with a sated smile. “You need to come for me, Mr. Solo.”

Ben grunted in response, so close to his climax. He bent down to kiss Rey passionately, his thrusts becoming more erratic until he was moaning loudly, his movements stilled by the force of his orgasm. “Fuck, baby,” he said as his head hung down. “That was great.”

“That was amazing is more like it,” Rey said, tangling her fingers in his hair. “Thank you.”

Ben slowly lowered himself onto her and they kissed sweetly. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“How long do you think my car can sit out there before someone tries to steal it?”

Rey laughed. “Not much longer, so we need to get cleaned up and leave.”

“We need to leave?”

“You’re blowing off an important party for me, Mr. Solo. I highly doubt that means you want me to sleep here and you go home all alone.”

Ben kissed Rey again. “I never want to spend another night away from you ever.”

“Ben.”

“I know, I know, too soon,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “Can’t help but think it though.”

“I know,” Rey said, tangling her fingers in his hair again. “We should probably shower.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Ben said, moving off of her. “I’m going to guess that your shower is not big enough for us both?”

“It’s barely big enough for me. You’re definitely going to have to crouch down to get under the spray. I already have to.”

“Then maybe I’ll just put the suit back on and send it to be dry cleaned once I’m back at the penthouse,” Ben said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. 

Rey nodded and climbed off the bed, bending down to kiss him. “Call Zorii. Call someone in media about them possibly having my address now. Do not instruct anyone to threaten anyone should they.”

“Any other instructions, ma’am?”

Rey slapped at his shoulder. “Wait on the sofa for me. And don’t answer the door if someone knocks on it. It’s likely Rose or Finn and I’m not ready for you to meet them yet.”

“Got it,” Ben said as Rey walked out of the room. 

He collapsed back onto the bed for a moment, thinking about how he’d definitely ruined Rey’s life, but he stood up and did what was necessary for him to be ready once she emerged from the shower. He settled himself on the sofa, closed his eyes, and started thinking of ways to make things up to Rey. How to make life better for Rey.

And it was going to start with convincing her to move into his old apartment.


	11. Chapter 11

Rey had just gotten into the car when her phone rang, and after seeing that it was Rose, she quickly answered it. “Rose, I have to go to work so make this quick.”

“There’s a bunch of photographers in front of the building again.”

“Shocking,” Rey said, rolling her eyes. 

“I know that’s not news. The reporter that knocked on our door is.”

Rey nearly dropped the phone. “The reporter that knocked on your door?”

Ben looked over at Rey as he got in the car. “Knocked on whose door?”

“Rose and Finn’s,” Rey said, turning her attention back to Rose. “What did they want?”

“They wanted to give us fifty grand in exchange for everything we know about you,” Rose said seriously. “And I highly doubt that we were the only ones asked. Except unlike everyone else in this fucking place, we said no.”

Rey closed her eyes. “Fuck.”

“Rey, I hate to say this because I love being neighbors with you, but you’ve got to never come back here,” Rose said softly. “Finn and I can pack up your apartment for you and I’m sure that lover boy can afford a moving company for wherever you go from here.”

“Can you not refer to Ben like that please?” Rey asked, and Rose sighed. 

“Can you please listen to my actual point?” 

“I should never go back there. I get it.”

“I know that you were wanting to wait until our lease was up to move too, but I don’t think you have that luxury anymore.”

“Fuck, you’re probably right,” Rey said, nodding when Ben asked if he could start the car. “I just don’t want to be in a place where you can’t come over within minutes.”

“Well, whenever you find a new place, we’ll start looking in the same area so we can be close to each other again.”

All that did was make Ben’s offer to move the three of them into the apartments he owned pop up in her mind. And Ben had been making the offer a lot ever since he’d seen her apartment. 

She didn’t blame him. Her apartment was downright awful compared to Ben’s. 

“I’m going to call you later to talk more about this apartment thing,” Rey said, trapping the phone between her ear and her shoulder so she could put her seatbelt on as Ben backed out of his parking space. “Because I have a few ideas about that.”

“And they all involve Ben in some way, don’t they?”

“I cannot help that, Rose.”

“You really can,” Rose said seriously. “You can realize that nothing about this is good. Absolutely nothing.”

Rey looked over at Ben and smiled. “He’s amazing, Rose. I’m not letting go of that.”

Ben broke out into a grin and Rey reached over to squeeze his knee. “Rose, I really need you to just accept this, okay? It might destroy me in the end, but right now, I just need you to accept this.”

The smile slipped from Ben’s face and he turned to look at Rey, but Rey wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Rey,” he said softly, but Rey ignored him.

“I just know how bad things can be when clients get attached,” Rose said. “And you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Ben is not going to send me to the hospital anytime soon, Rose,” Rey said firmly. “I know that you’re speaking from past experience, but get that out of your head.”

“The last woman who ended up in the papers,” Rose started, but Rey cut her off.

“The last woman who ended up in the papers fed them a bunch of shit that isn’t true so that they’d pay her a lot of money for her so-called story. If you want to know what Ben is really like, then you need to trust my judgment and agree to meet him.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust your judgment, Rey. It’s really not.”

“Then what is it?”

“I told you, clients getting attached is a bad thing.”

Rey sat there for a few moments before something occurred to her. “You had him, didn’t you? That’s why you don’t want to meet him.”

“No,” Rose said firmly. “I did not.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I’m not!” Rose exclaimed. “I just know a lot of women who did.”

“I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“Everyone knows the codenames, Rey, and if you think that word doesn’t spread about certain clients then you’re wrong.”

Rey clenched her free hand into a fist. “I know there were others, Rose. That doesn’t bother me. I can’t let that bother me or I’d go insane.”

“I just don’t know how you can be doing this, Rey.”

“I don’t think you realize how happy he makes me, Rose,” Rey said honestly. “I feel alive for once.”

“I know,” Rose said softly. “And it’s not that I don’t want you to feel alive. It’s that I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I might,” Rey replied. “But taking that chance is my choice.”

“Fine,” Rose said. “I’ll lay off this. I still think I’m going to be piecing you back together and telling you I told you so at the same time.”

“You might be, but I’m preferring not to think about things like that right now.”

“You should be,” Rose muttered before raising her voice. “I’ll see if I can find out who talked if I can. But I am serious about you not coming here again. The less you’re around here, the better.”

“I will stay away, I promise, but you’re going to have to bring me some clothes. I only have so much stuff with me right now.”

“I’ll try to figure out a way to do that without meeting the rich bastard then.”

“Rose.”

“Fine. Ben. I’ll try to do it in a way that keeps me from meeting Ben.”

“I’ll call you after work, okay?”

“I’ll be here.”

Rey hung up the phone and let her head rest back against the seat, closing her eyes. “There is a reporter offering people at my building money in exchange for stories about me. They offered Rose and Finn fifty thousand for it.”

“This is going to keep happening until you let me threaten the papers with legal action,” Ben said. “And you really need to move.”

“I think I finally understand that,” Rey murmured. “But I haven’t made any decisions yet, so don’t even bring up the apartment.”

“Then I won’t,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “Do you think I’m going to destroy you?”

“What?” Rey asked, looking over at him.

“When you were talking to Rose, you said that this might destroy you in the end. Do you really think that’s a possibility?”

“Anything is a possibility, Ben,” Rey said after a moment. “You could be lying to me about everything.”

“I’m not.”

“I don’t think you are,” Rey clarified. “But I have to be prepared for the fact that you could be. You are Ben fucking Solo and I’m an absolute nobody. You shouldn’t be wasting time on me.”

“You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met,” Ben said, snagging her hand and bringing it up so he could kiss it. “You make me feel alive for the first time in forever. In fact, for the first time ever. I’ve never felt this alive before.”

Rey smiled. “You make me feel alive too.”

“And that’s how I know this is special,” Ben said, smiling at her. “How I know that it’s what I want.”

“Ben.”

“I know, I know, too soon,” Ben murmured. “I just had to say it.”

“You have to just say it a lot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Rey said. “It’s just overwhelming to think that you know you want to spend the rest of your life with me when I don’t even know what my next week is going to look like.”

“I understand,” Ben said, pulling up in front of the building that Arts Unleashed was in. “Have a good day, baby. I’ll be here to pick you up at five.”

Rey leaned over and kissed him. “Thank you.”

Ben waited until Rey was out of the car to roll down the window. “Rey.”

“What?” she asked, turning to look at him.

“I promise I won’t destroy you.”

Rey nodded. “I don’t think you can make me that promise, Ben.”

And then she turned around and walked into the building before Ben could say another word.

**********

“Welcome to Arts Unleashed, how may I help you?”

Rose blinked as the woman behind the desk came into view, recognizing her voice instantly. “I’m looking for Rey Palpatine.”

“May I have your name?” Kaydel asked.

“Rose,” was all she offered up, but Kaydel just smiled at her. 

“Please have a seat, Rose, and I’ll let Ms. Palpatine know that you’re here.”

Rose walked over to the sitting area and took a chair, looking around the room nervously. Rey was having to be so careful to make sure that none of this was exposed, but she hadn’t been acutely aware of how precarious her situation really was. She found herself clutching the straps of the bag she’d brought with her a little more tightly, knowing that if she did the wrong thing, Rey’s place in all of this could be jeopardized. 

“Rose,” came Rey’s voice, slight surprise in it. “Why don’t you come on back to my office?”

Office. Rey had an office.

Rose followed Rey back into a very nice office and once the door was shut behind them, Rey spun around to look at her. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I came to bring you some clothes,” Rose said, holding out the bag in her hands. “I didn’t want you to be without.”

Rey stared at the bag for a moment before reaching out and taking it from her. “Thank you. But next time, call first.”

“I didn’t think about it,” Rose said. “I think I finally understand your position here.”

Rey set the bag down behind her desk and walked back to Rose, pulling her into a hug. “Thank you for bringing me clothes.”

“I didn’t know what all to bring you, so I just picked a bunch of stuff.”

“That’s alright, I’ll figure out what to do with all of it,” Rey said, pulling back. “Since you’re here, can I talk to you about something?”

“Is it something that can be talked about here?”

“Yes, or I wouldn’t be bringing it up,” Rey said. “It’s about both of our current living situations.”

“I did mean it when I said that Finn and I would start looking for a place close to wherever you end up,” Rose said.

“I know you did. It’s just that I happen to be considering a place and it has a place for you two very, very close to it.”

Rose gave her a confused look. “Rey, I only told you about the reporter four hours ago.”

“Yeah, well, you haven’t been getting the offer that I’ve been getting for the last week and a half either.”

Rose groaned. “He wants to buy you an apartment now? Rey.”

“He does not want to buy me an apartment, though if he didn’t already own this one, I’m sure that would be his offer.”

“So he wants you to live in an apartment that he already owns. Let me guess, it’s in the same building, just a convenient elevator ride away.”

“You need to knock this off,” Rey said seriously. “And no, it’s not in the same building. It’s six blocks away.”

“Rey, even if you do something stupid like agree to this, then how do you think Finn and I are going to be able to live anywhere near you? We can’t afford to live in downtown Manhattan.”

“Simple. Ben owns the other apartment on that floor. He said that you two are more than welcome to live in it so that we could stay close to each other.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“He said that you could live there with me, but in the other apartment,” Rey said again. “It would be just the three of us on the entire floor. And I would assume that would be rent and utilities free too.”

Rose was speechless. “What?” she finally said again.

“Contrary to your belief, he does actually care about me and he wants to make me happy. He knows that me being near the two of you would make me very happy. So he’s trying to come up with ways that can be possible but I can also be safe.”

Rose blinked a few times. “Wow. Okay. Wow.”

“Talk to Finn about it. Really think about it. If you’re not in, then I’m not moving there. I’ll find somewhere else to live.” Rey walked back around her desk and sat down. “I really need to get back to work, but thank you once again for the clothes.”

“Right, I won’t interrupt you anymore,” Rose said, taking a deep breath. “And I promise that we’ll really take this into consideration, alright? Not just lip service.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, smiling at her.

“One more thing before I leave,” Rose said. “How weird is it with Kaydel working up there?”

“She only works here on days when Zorii needs cover for their regular receptionist, but on a scale of one to ten? Seven thousand.”

Rose laughed and walked to the door. “I can only imagine. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thank you again!”

**********

Rey looked around Ben’s closet and took in all of his clothes, noticing for the first time that his clothes only hung on one side of the room. She thought about asking why for a moment before it hit her, and then she suddenly didn’t know what to feel. She turned her attention to the side of the room where some of her clothes now hung, and she couldn’t help but think about how that must make Ben feel.

Ben, who had been so lonely and had given up on finding someone to share his life with, but clearly still hopeful that the day would come when a woman’s clothes filled the other half of his closet.

Not that Rey’s clothes were filling half of his closet. They were barely taking up a quarter of a rack. She wasn’t even sure her entire wardrobe would take up more than one of the racks that Ben had said were available to her. 

Rey sighed heavily. Maybe she needed to do some shopping. 

She jumped when she felt arms slide around her waist from behind, and Ben kissed her neck in apology. “I’m sorry. I thought that you heard me come in.”

“I did not,” Rey said, smiling when Ben kissed her neck again. “I was just thinking about clothes.”

“You don’t have very many here,” Ben noted. “You’re welcome to fill these racks.”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t own enough to fill even one of these,” Rey said. “But those are not the only clothes I was thinking about. I was also thinking about yours.”

“And why were you thinking about my clothes?”

“They’re all on one side of the closet,” Rey said. “And that just made me think about how lonely you used to be, but that you still had hope just the same.”

“Hope that what, another woman would go running to the papers about me?”

Rey turned around in his embrace. “No,” she said softly. “Hope that someone like me would come along and fill these racks with my clothes.”

Ben kissed her deeply. “I didn’t have any hope like that until I met you.”

“Yes, you did,” Rey replied. “And you know it.”

Ben kissed her again. “Maybe you’re right, but it was more subconscious than anything else. I was completely and totally done with trying to find someone like you. But I’ve found you and I’ve never been happier.”

“I’ve never been happier either and I have to tell you, it kind of scares me,” Rey said softly. “I know you keep saying you want this forever, but Ben, you could change your mind in an instant. And don’t tell me that you don’t do that because you tell me often that you’ve completely changed your mind about something mid-meeting.”

“True, but I’m not having someone standing in front of me giving me data that makes me change my mind about you,” Ben said, tightening his embrace. “It’s you, Rey. I know you don’t like me saying that, but it’s the truth.”

Rey swallowed hard. “We’ve only known each other for three months, Ben. It’s too soon for that.”

“Sometimes, Rey, it just isn’t,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “My grandmother always told me that when I met the right person, I’d fall in love before I could blink. And I did. I swear I’ve been in love with you since that first night. I just love you, Rey. That’s all I want. You, by my side for the rest of my life.” 

“Ben,” Rey breathed out. “You almost sound like you’re proposing to me and I can’t handle that.”

“I’m not proposing to you, I promise,” Ben said, kissing her softly. “That would be much more romantic than this. I’m just trying to let you know that the only woman whose clothes I ever want to fill the other side of my closet is you. It’s always going to be you, even if you walk away from me.”

Rey closed her eyes. “I don’t deserve that.”

“I think you don’t know what you deserve,” Ben murmured, pressing gentle kisses to her eyelids. “You deserve so much better than what you’ve had. From the way that you were raised by your grandfather, to the abusive motherfucker in college, to feeling as desperate as you did before we met. You deserve the world, baby. And I want to give it to you.”

Rey took in everything that Ben had said before opening her eyes. “I don’t think anyone has ever loved me before,” she murmured. “Not now that I know what it feels like to be with you. And it’s amazing and terrifying and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“Let me help you,” Ben said, kissing her sweetly. “I’ll do anything I can for you.”

Rey took a deep breath. “I want to see this apartment. That does not mean I’ve made my decision. I just want to see it before I do.”

“I can do that,” Ben said, smiling at her. “How about Saturday morning?”

Rey nodded. “I want to see the one for Rose and Finn too. That way I can take pictures and send them to her.”

“Easily done.”

Rey nodded and then buried her head in Ben’s neck. Ben held her as close as he could, brushing a kiss along her hair. They stood there silently for a few minutes before Rey spoke. “I want to believe you. I want to believe you want me here forever. I just...can’t. Not yet.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Ben said, kissing her hair again. “I can be patient.”

Rey nodded and pulled back after a few moments, and Ben smiled at her. “Are you done unpacking the bag Rose brought you?”

“Yes,” Rey said, and Ben took her by the hand.

“Then let’s go make dinner.”

Rey looked over at where her clothes hung for a moment before nodding. “Sounds good.”

As they walked out of the room, all Rey could think about was how right it felt to have her clothes hanging there, as though they had always been meant to belong to that particular clothes rack in that particular closet. 

It terrified her.


	12. Chapter 12

Ben woke up to find moonlight streaming into the room through the windows on the east wall, and he shifted onto his back and reached for Rey, frowning when she wasn’t there beside him. Feeling the bedsheets on that side let him know that it had been some time since Rey had been there, and Ben laid there for a few moments before throwing the covers back and standing up.

This was the fourth night this week that Rey had been up in the middle of the night and she hadn’t been willing to tell him what was going on during the previous three. Ben was not going to let her get away with that tonight.

He grabbed his sweatpants off the floor and put them on, walking out of the room and heading in the direction of the office that he had gifted to Rey a month earlier. She’d spent a lot of time in that office ever since, working away at the laptop that she’d bought with some of the money that he’d paid her. She’d been buying lots of things with the money that he’d paid her lately, and Ben didn’t want to tell her how much it meant to him to see them find places of their own amongst his stuff. 

Once he convinced her to move into his old apartment, he knew that stuff would leave to be placed somewhere there, so he was trying not to become so attached to it. It was difficult though. He wanted all of Rey’s things to be mixed amongst his own. He wanted Rey to forget about the apartment and just move in with him. But he also knew that in her mind it was too soon for that, so he was just going to deal with it.

He saw the light from inside the office streaming out into the darkened hallway as he approached it, and he leaned up against the door frame once he was there, finding Rey sitting in the chair wearing nothing more than a cropped shirt. He suspected she was wearing a pair of panties as well, but he wasn’t able to tell at that moment and he wasn’t about to ask. He needed to get to the bottom of this before he could even think about sex.

“Baby, it’s three a.m.,” Ben said, and Rey didn’t even stop to look up at him. “Why are you working right now?”

“Just had some thoughts to get down about this MOMA project,” she said, typing away. “Go back to sleep, Ben. It’s fine.”

“It’s really not,” Ben said seriously. “You do nothing but work when you come home from work. Now you’re getting up in the middle of the night to work. What is going on?”

Rey took a shuddering breath and Ben went into the office, walking around her desk and turning her chair so she was facing him. He took one glance at the scared look in her eyes before kneeling down in front of her, running his hands up her thighs until they rested on her hips. “Baby, please tell me what is going on,” he said, caressing the soft skin there. “I’m worried.”

Rey stared at him without saying a word, but before Ben could say anything, she slid out of the chair and into Ben’s arms, burying her face in his neck. Ben’s arms slid around her waist and held her as close as he could when he felt the tears start wetting his skin. “It’s okay, baby,” he soothed. “Whatever it is, it’s okay.”

“I can’t do this,” Rey cried. “I’m so scared that I’m going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and everyone is going to figure this out. That someone is going to discover the bank accounts and the money and that all of this will come crashing down. I’m under so much pressure, Ben, and I feel like I’m about to break.”

“I’m sorry,” Ben murmured. “I know that I’ve put you in such a precarious position, and I can’t really imagine what you must be going through. I should have known better than to go out in public with you. I really should have. When Ben fucking Solo hasn’t been seen in public with a woman in years and then suddenly he is, it was always going to be something that became tabloid fodder. 

“I just wanted to treat you the way that you deserved. I wanted to let you know that you’re a goddess and you deserve the world. But all I’ve done instead is ruin your life. I’ve forced you into this state and I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I cannot apologize enough for that. I really can’t.”

“You didn’t ruin my life,” Rey mumbled. “You’ve brought me to life. If anyone has ruined anything, I’m the one who did that.”

“No, baby,” Ben said, tightening his embrace. “You’re not. None of this would be happening if I wasn’t Ben fucking Solo.”

“No, it really is my fault. I was so desperate for a job that I agreed to become a fucking prostitute. You and Rose and everyone can tell me all you want that I wasn’t, that it was just a societal stereotype in my head, but Ben, I let men fuck me in exchange for money. Not just you, but others. I needed money so motherfucking bad that I had no choice but to do this.”

“Rey,” Ben started, but Rey kept talking.

“I wanted to work at Arts Unleashed so badly that I didn’t even really try to get a good job somewhere else. I mean, I tried at first, but no one else was hiring and so I was working at a fucking McDonald’s part-time just so I could afford to eat. Rose had always been open with me about how she’d earned enough money that she didn’t need to work, and eventually I was in a position where I had no choice but to do this. I didn’t want to do this. The decision to do this meant that I met you, but fuck, I am the one who got myself into this.

“Ben,” Rey said, sucking in a deep breath, “I could have walked away that night. I could have left and never come back. I don’t regret staying because you’re so unbelievably amazing. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. But I’ve put myself into such a difficult position and I don’t know if I can handle it. I really don’t.”

“This isn’t your fault, baby,” Ben said, brushing a kiss along her temple. “It’s mine. None of this would be happening if I wasn’t Ben fucking Solo.”

“We’re never going to agree on that.”

“Maybe not, but I’m right,” Ben said seriously. “I’ve gone through bullshit like this with women before, waking up to a different headline every day, but I cared so little for them in the long run that I didn’t even really think about what the coverage was doing to them. They always seemed to be enjoying the attention. I know that you haven’t been, and I don’t blame you for that, but I never really thought about how much of a toll it was taking on you.”

Rey stayed quiet as she brought her emotions back under control, and when she sat up to look in Ben’s eyes, he felt a pain in his chest when he saw the look in her eyes. “How can I help you get through this?” he asked softly. “Whatever you need me to do, I’ll make sure that it happens.”

Rey swallowed hard. “I need the two of us to have dinner with Poe and Zorii at one of the most upscale restaurants in the city.”

Ben gave her a confused look. “What?”

“That’s how we met, right? Through Poe and Zorii. So we need to show that we’re really good friends,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “If we make the cover story more plausible by selling that the four of us have this special bond that Zorii commented on at the press event for the MOMA project last week, then that will help me.” 

Ben reached out and caressed the side of her face. “Then I’ll make sure that we have dinner with Poe and Zorii sometime this week. Anything for you, baby.”

“Zorii also suggested to me that I have lunch with your mother,” Rey said, taking another deep breath. “The thought terrifies me but I think that is probably a good idea. If this is supposed to be such a serious relationship, which I’m not trying to say that it isn’t, but if we’re supposed to be showing that to the world, then showing that I have your family’s approval will also help.”

“Then I’ll make sure that you and Mama have lunch sometime this week.”

Rey closed her eyes. “I also need some space of my own,” she said softly. “Being here with you is amazing, but sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe. That’s not me trying to say that you’re smothering me, so don’t take it that way. I just used to spend nights at my apartment and now I’m spending every night here, and I need a break.”

“I understand,” Ben started, but Rey kept talking.

“I’ll move into your apartment,” Rey said. “It doesn’t matter if Rose and Finn agree to move there or not anymore. I need some space of my own.”

“Okay. I’ll make that happen. I’ll do whatever it is you need me to. I promise.”

Rey gave him a shaky smile. “I’m sorry I’ve been working so much. I’ve just been trying so hard to make it look like I’ve been working on this for months and am therefore an expert on everything that’s happening, and I…”

Ben leaned forward and captured Rey’s lips in a kiss. “Baby, you are an expert on it. You’ve thrown yourself into this so much that there is no debate on whether or not you are an expert on this. Zorii told me that you know this project better than she does at this point, and she’s been working on it for almost a year. You’ve got this.”

“I can’t fail,” Rey murmured, and Ben kissed her again. 

“You’re not going to. I promise.”

Rey nodded after a moment and Ben smiled at her. “Let’s go back to bed, okay?”

“I really need you to fuck me,” Rey said, taking another deep breath. “Right here, bent over the desk. Okay?”

Ben felt himself harden. “You want me to bend you over the desk and fuck you?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Rey said, standing up and pushing the chair out of the way. “I’ll move my stuff. You get one of the condoms out of the top drawer.”

Ben blinked rapidly. “You’ve got condoms in here?”

“A whole box,” Rey said, grinning at him. “Come on, Mr. Solo. Your secretary could walk in at any moment.”

Ben got even harder. “Fuck, baby, what are you doing to me?”

“You don’t want to play like that? That’s fine. You’re still going to fuck me against the desk.”

Ben stood up as quickly as he could, reaching into the drawer and grabbing one of the condoms. Rey bent over the desk as Ben took his sweatpants off, and he stepped up behind her, running his hands over her back before trailing kisses down her spine. His hands went to her panties and lowered them until her perfect pussy came into view, and then he slipped a finger past her folds and into her wet cunt. “So wet for me, baby,” he murmured as Rey moaned. “And you need to keep quiet. We can’t have Josephine figuring out what we’re doing. The door isn’t locked.”

Rey felt a shiver go down her spine and grinned at Ben’s words. “I’ll be as quiet as I can, Mr. Solo,” she murmured as Ben slipped another finger into her. “But I might not be able to stop myself from screaming.”

Ben tore the condom wrapper open with his teeth and got the latex out. “Do you have any idea how much it pleases me to hear you scream, baby? Because it pleases me a lot.”

“I live to please you, Mr. Solo,” Rey got out before Ben’s fingers found her clit. “Fuck, Mr. Solo. It’s like you want me to scream.”

“I always want you to scream,” Ben said, rolling the latex onto his dick. “But I’ll reward you for being a good girl if you can manage not to.”

Rey gasped as Ben’s fingers began to massage her clit faster. “Reward me how?” 

“When we are home in our bedroom, I’ll eat you out so much that you’ll lose track of how many times you come, and when I’m done with that, then I’ll fuck you until you have no choice but to scream.”

Rey felt another shiver go down her spine. “That sounds like a challenge that I’m willing to accept, Mr. Solo.”

Ben grinned and pulled his fingers from her, slicking up the condom with the juice from his fingers. He stepped closer to Rey and she automatically spread her legs wider, reaching out to grab onto the desk. “Remember, baby, no screaming. You wouldn’t want Josephine to find us like this, would you?”

“No, Mr. Solo,” Rey breathed out as Ben tapped his dick against her pussy. “But please fuck me already.”

Ben slowly guided his dick inside her, sighing happily as her wet heat enveloped him. Rey gasped at the angle and Ben leaned over her, tilting her head until they were kissing passionately. He was about to lose his self-control when he felt Rey start pushing back against him, and then he closed his eyes and began to thrust. 

Rey had been fucked from behind before, but she didn’t remember it being like this. It felt like every nerve in her body was on fire in the most delicious and pleasurable way imaginable, and as Ben’s hands slid across the exposed skin of her back, she felt like they were scalding her. She let her head drop down to the desk and closed her eyes, deciding at that moment that they were most definitely doing this again.

Ben thrust particularly deep and Rey let a yelp escape her lips, and then he was bending down and kissing her again. “No screaming, remember,” he murmured. “Or else Josephine is going to find us.”

Rey knew that she had come up with this little roleplaying scenario, but she hadn’t been expecting it to be this intense and amazing. “I’m sorry, Mr. Solo. Please forgive me.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Ben said, kissing her again. “But if Josephine comes in here, then you won’t be rewarded for being a good girl. I’ll even fuck you against the windows again if you don’t scream.”

They hadn’t done that in weeks and Rey shuddered just at the thought. She enjoyed that bit of exhibitionism a little too much. She managed to nod when Ben started thrusting again, his hand coming up to rest on the back of her neck to hold her in place. “Is that okay?” he asked. “Because if you’re uncomfortable I’ll move my hand.”

Rey found the idea of being held down entirely too exciting, and she nodded her head. “It’s fine, Mr. Solo. I love it.”

That shot all the way through Ben down to his cock, and he thrust harder, knowing from the small noises that Rey was making that she was likely biting her tongue so she didn’t scream. He’d never fucked someone over a desk before, but he decided that they were definitely going to be doing this again, in his office next time. “Such a good girl,” Ben got out, smacking her ass lightly. “You’re such a good girl.”

Rey didn’t say anything in response, knowing that if she opened her mouth a scream would escape her. Ben started fucking her harder, and his free hand drifted between her legs and found her clit with his fingers. Rey bit her tongue so hard that she drew a little blood in order to keep from screaming, banging her head against the desk to try and handle the sensations that coursed through her as she came. When Ben’s fingers finally moved away a minute later, Rey was breathing harder than she had ever been before.

She’d never had a better orgasm than that.

Ben’s thrusts began to get more erratic, and Rey started squeezing her muscles around him with every stroke into her. Ben’s hand on the back of her neck tightened as he got closer, and Rey relished the feeling as Ben thrust one more time into her before letting out a low groan of completion. He let go of her neck after a moment and pressed kisses where his hand had been, tilting Rey’s head until they could kiss each other deeply. 

“That was incredible, baby. And you were a very good girl.”

Rey gave him a sated smile. “I didn’t want Josephine to walk in on us, Mr. Solo.”

“Fuck, I enjoyed the thought of Josephine being right outside the room a little too much,” Ben laughed. “So we’re going to be doing this again.”

“You’re goddamn right about that,” Rey said as Ben moved away from her, allowing her to stand upright. “Maybe next time we pretend that we’re in my office and it’s Poe or Zorii that could come in at any moment.”

“I like that idea a lot,” Ben said as Rey turned to him. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I didn’t even think to ask about the hand on your neck until I’d done it.”

“Fuck, no, Ben,” Rey said, reaching for him. “I fucking loved it. I want you to do it when we’re face to face next time so I can see how I like that.”

Ben reached down to take care of the condom as he felt himself harden again. “Well, I say we go put that to the test then. Besides, you were a very good girl and deserve your reward.”

Rey laughed as Ben suddenly picked her up and carried her out of the room. “You’re going to have to up your game, Mr. Solo. That was the best orgasm I’ve ever had.”

Ben just grinned. “Oh, I can up my game. You aren’t going to know what hit you by the time I’m done with you.”

Rey laughed. “I can’t wait to find out.”


	13. Chapter 13

Ben showed Rey the apartment on Saturday morning, but Rey’s mind was already made up. It didn’t matter that she’d have to buy a fuckload of furniture to make the place look like someone lived there or that everything she already owned would look atrocious in the extravagant space. It mattered that it would be a place where she could escape to when she needed to be alone, and she’d gone willingly into Ben’s arms and told him that she wanted to move in as soon as possible. 

Ben said he’d take care of it.

Which was why by Sunday night, all of Rey’s belongings were sitting in one room of the apartment. She didn’t know how much Ben had overpaid the moving company to get it done the next day and she didn’t really care. Rose and Finn had already packed up her apartment a month before and so the move was simple and painless. Ben had told her to direct the movers to put her stuff in various rooms, but Rey had wanted it all in one place. 

She was going to be replacing all of it anyway, so it didn’t really matter where it was put.

She spent the night in her new apartment that night, curled up on the mattress of her bed wearing only her bra and panties. She didn’t care that the bed wasn’t made, didn’t care that she didn’t have a blanket. All that mattered was that she was in a place of her own again, even if it was technically Ben’s.

She barely slept.

She’d brought some of her clothes from Ben’s to the new apartment and hung them in the closet, so when it came time to get ready for work, she wasn’t digging through boxes looking for something to wear. She took a shower and tried not to think about how many women Ben might have fucked in it since it was clearly more than big enough for that to have happened, got dressed and did her hair and makeup, and then sat down on her old, horrible sofa. 

Ben buzzed the apartment about half an hour later, and Rey took the elevator down to find him waiting in the lobby. He held out a paper cup when she was close enough, and one sip of the coffee made her smile. A white chocolate mocha with a dash of raspberry syrup.

None of her previous boyfriends had ever remembered the raspberry syrup.

Ben had clearly listened to her while she ordered during the one time she’d gotten him to go into a Starbucks with her, and the bacon, gouda, and egg sandwich that was in his other hand just affirmed that. “I knew you didn’t have any food,” he said. “So I brought you breakfast.”

“Thank you,” Rey murmured in between sips of her coffee.

“Ready to go?” Ben asked, and when Rey nodded, they made their way into the building’s underground garage. 

Ben had a prime parking spot that was near the elevators, and Rey wondered if that came with the apartment or if he’d somehow bought himself a better one. Ben answered her question when they got to the car, pointing to the two spots to the right of it. “Those are for the other apartment,” he explained. “And then the one on the other side of the car is the other one for the one you’re living in.”

Rey got into the car without saying anything, setting her cup in the console and pulling the sandwich out of the wrapper. Ben watched her eat for a moment before taking a deep breath. “How was your night?”

“Terrible,” Rey said without thinking. “But also great.”

“I see,” Ben said softly. “Mine was pretty terrible too.”

Rey looked over at him and Ben just nodded. “You weren’t there. Of course, my night was going to be terrible.”

Rey sighed heavily and set her sandwich on the wrapper in her lap. “Ben.”

“I am fully supportive of you feeling like you need your own space,” he clarified. “But I’m used to having you there now. It’s going to take me some time to adjust to the fact that you’re not.”

“Not every night, no, but I will be there a lot,” Rey pointed out. “I just really needed a night to myself.”

“I know,” Ben said, starting the car. “And I understand. Things have been overwhelming and I don’t help with that. So I’m sorry, once again, for making you feel that way.”

“Ben,” Rey sighed. “You don’t need to apologize for anything. If that’s how you feel, it’s how you feel. I just can’t believe it.”

“I know, but you have asked me to back off on telling you that I want you for the rest of my life, and I don’t really listen to that. So I’m sorry and I promise I will be better about that.” Ben backed the car out of the space and headed towards the garage’s exit. “And I’d really love to sit here and talk to you some more, but I need to drop you off and get to the office. I have to be on a conference call with the London branch at eight-thirty. I am not looking forward to that. I’m not looking forward to lunch with my father either.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey said, picking her sandwich back up. “I’m sure your lunch with him will go better than you’re thinking it will. And I need to be at work early today anyway. We’re starting to narrow down activities for the children to do in these workshops and Beaumont and I are testing a few out today.”

“Testing them out on children?”

“No, testing them out ourselves,” Rey said, laughing. “Something tells me I’ll have marker and glue all over my fingers by the time you pick me up tonight.”

Ben smiled. “Then we’ll just have to take a shower when we get back to the penthouse.”

That just made Rey’s earlier thoughts from the shower come back to the forefront of her mind, and she sighed before she could stop herself. Ben looked over at her in confusion. “What, baby? You don’t want to take a shower with me? I thought you loved that.”

“I do,” Rey murmured. “It’s just that taking a shower this morning had me thinking about how many women you’d taken a shower with there.”

It was Ben’s turn to sigh. “Do you want me to be honest?”

“I’m pretty sure I already know the answer, so yes.”

“I don’t know,” Ben said after a moment. “I lived there through two relationships and one of those was the spectacularly horrible last one before you. There were a few women from Resistance after that, but most of those encounters occurred at the penthouse, which you are already aware of. And there were some one-night stands or brief flings in there too. So I cannot give you a number.”

“I’m not sure I’d want an exact number anyway. Thinking about how many women you’ve fucked is not something I enjoy.”

“Well, I don’t like thinking about all the men you’ve fucked either, so we’re even.”

“We are nowhere close to even,” Rey said, letting out a small laugh. “Nowhere close.”

Ben was confused. “Meaning?”

“Meaning before I got the job at Resistance, there had been a grand total of two men that had fucked me,” Rey said, reaching for her coffee. “Then because of Resistance, there were the four before you. So you’re lucky number seven.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Number seven.”

“Yep,” Rey said as Ben pulled up in front of the Arts Unleashed building. “And I’m number god knows how many. Have a good conference call.”

Rey was out of the car and headed into the building before Ben could say anything, and once she was inside her office, she took a deep breath. She finished her sandwich and her coffee, set up her laptop and logged into the Arts Unleashed system. She attempted to work for a while, and once her clock said that it was eight-thirty, she picked up her phone and dialed Ben’s secretary. Josephine was as friendly as Ben had always said she was, and Rey asked her to deliver a simple message to him for her. 

Rey was going to have to work late and therefore she was going to just go home as soon as she was done. She’d call him later and she was looking forward to making things up to him the following evening. 

Josephine said she’d deliver the message and Rey hung up the phone, immediately calling Rose. She waited for Rose to get out her greeting before beginning to speak. “I need you and Finn to come over tonight.”

“Finn has to work till eleven,” Rose said, her voice concerned. “You sound terrible.”

“I’m just freaking out about something and I need to talk to you about it, okay?” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “And it’s not something I can talk about while I’m at work.”

“I’ll be there then. What time?”

“Six,” Rey said after glancing at her schedule for the day. “And can you bring dinner? There is no food in the apartment and I’m not in the mood to brave a grocery store.”

“Is there a refrigerator in there?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll do a little shopping and bring that with me too.”

“Bless you,” Rey said, looking up when the door to her office opened. “I’ll call you back in a little while, okay? I need to get back to work.”

She hung up the phone and smiled at Beaumont as he sat down across from her. “Ready to talk about these activities?”

“Yes,” Beaumont said, reaching for a stack of papers. “I had some ideas.”

As Beaumont began to talk, Rey found herself grateful to be able to lose herself in work. She needed to think about something other than Ben for a while.

**********

“You told me that you were fully aware of the fact that there were others,” Rose pointed out. “In fact, you told me that you chose not to think of them.”

“Yeah, well, I did choose not to think of them until these thoughts invaded my brain this morning and now they won’t leave me alone,” Rey said, reaching for the carton of fried rice. 

They were sitting together on the floor in the room Ben had described as the dining room, leaning up against the wall and staring into the kitchen that Rose had declared was bigger than her old apartment. Rey thought that was an exaggeration, but she also knew that Rose wasn’t far off.

“Well, I don’t know what you expect me to say about it,” Rose replied, reaching for a different carton of her own. “He was one of Poe’s best customers, from what I understand.”

“I know he was,” Rey sighed, leaning her head back against the wall. “Be honest with me for a minute.”

“Of course.”

“How many women do you know that had him? Best guess.”

Rose shook her head. “I’m not answering that. It’ll only make you feel worse.”

“Rose, come on.”

“No, I’m being serious,” Rose said. “The last thing you need is an actual number to focus on. If he says he can’t give you one, then you know it’s a lot. Just go with that.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Rey murmured. “Be honest with me about something else then?”

“Sure.”

“What is your problem with Ben? And I mean your real problem, not this bullshit you’ve said to me before.” Rose sighed heavily and ate several bites of chicken before setting the carton down and reaching for another, which just made Rey annoyed. “Fucking answer me.”

“He reminds me of Armitage.”

“Who? And how the fuck can he remind you of anyone when you haven’t even met him?”

Rose closed her eyes. “Armitage Hux. The man that convinced me to give up Resistance for him.”

Rey sat up and turned towards Rose with surprise. “What?”

“I didn’t quit when I met Finn like I told you. And Finn knows the truth, so don’t worry about having to keep this a secret from him,” Rose said, running her hands over her face. “I was sweet-talked and wooed and everything under the sun because he loved me, or so he said. What he really wanted was to stop paying me and so when that Phasma woman ended up back in his life, I was discarded like I was nothing. It broke me and I was still broken when I met Finn. But he put me back together and made me realize that I’ve been waiting my whole life for him, not that motherfucking bastard. And since Hux works for Ben, I just assumed that Ben would be like him. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you.”

Rey set their food to the side and wrapped her arms around Rose. “Oh, Rose, why didn’t you just tell me that?”

“Because I feel like such a fool about the whole thing and I hate talking about it. I didn’t tell you when you started working at Resistance because you absolutely did not want to be doing that. It seemed like you wouldn’t be getting attached to anyone. I didn’t say anything when you agreed to be Ben’s exclusive because I did mean what I said, I always preferred it when I was someone’s exclusive. But once you started talking about how you were getting attached to him, I tried warning you off in the only way I knew how to without telling you the truth.”

“I can understand that, but that also doesn’t explain why you don’t just trust my judgment on Ben.”

“As I said, he works with Hux. My experience of talking with some of the others is that all of those kinds of businessmen are the same. You have to understand why I would think that Ben would be like that.”

“Ben absolutely hates Hux,” Rey said, shaking her head. “Thinks he’s beyond incompetent and stupid and says he has to hold his hand through everything. He wants him gone, I know that much for sure.”

Rose chuckled. “Yeah, Armitage isn’t the most intelligent man, that’s for sure. He may have fucked me over in the end, but he paid me so much money before all of that happened. I overcharged the fuck out of him because I knew I could get away with it.”

“I’m sorry that you went through that experience,” Rey said. “But I need you to believe me when I tell you that mine is different.”

“I’ll try,” Rose said as Rey’s phone rang. “You should answer that.”

Rey picked it up, saw that it was Ben, and declined the call. “I don’t want to talk to him yet.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t come over here.”

“He knows I’m in need of some space right now. I think he’s giving me that.”

“But that’s at least the fifth time he’s called since I got here.”

“He’s confused, no doubt. I was supposed to spend tonight at the penthouse with him. But as I said, these thoughts invaded my head and I couldn’t get them to go away.”

Rose shook her head. “Well, thank you for blowing him off for me. I’ve missed us just hanging out eating Chinese food while Finn’s working late.”

“There is a way that we can do this more often,” Rey said, setting their food to the side and standing up. “Come on. I’ll show you the other apartment since you’re here.”

Rose stood up as well. “You’re really serious about that? I thought that was just bullshit he was feeding you to get you to move in here.”

“No, I’m serious,” Rey said, grabbing a set of keys off her dresser as they passed it. “I’m pretty sure my apartment is bigger than this other one, but fuck, it’s like living in a palace compared to that fucking place so I don’t think it matters.”

“No, it definitely does not matter,” Rose said, following her out the door. “Fuck, you’re going to convince me to do this tonight, aren’t you?”

Rey turned to her with a grin. “You’re damn right I am.”

Rose just shook her head. “Does Finn even get an opinion on this?”

“Bring him over and I’ll show him too,” Rey said, walking across the hall. “But I think you’ll have your mind made up and you know he’ll go along with whatever you want.”

“That’s very true,” Rose said, laughing. “Alright, let’s see this place then.”

Rey stopped at the door and turned around. “Before I show you, you have to promise to give Ben a chance.”

Rose took in the resolute look in Rey’s eyes, knew that she needed to set her own experiences to the side and trust Rey’s judgment, and then she nodded. “I’ll give him a chance. But I’m not ready to meet him yet.”

“That’s fine,” Rey said, turning back to the door. “I’m not ready for you to meet him either. Now, I’ll give you a quick tour, and then we can break into those fortune cookies.”

**********

Ben knew that he shouldn’t be worried. He knew that Rey probably just needed some space, especially after their conversation in the car. Things would be fine in the morning.

But he was terrified.

He was thinking about trying to call Rey again when his phone rang, and he dove for it when he saw that it was her. “Baby? I don’t know what...”

“Armitage Hux is a lousy motherfucker,” Rey said before Ben could continue. “And I want you to fire him.”

Ben was immediately confused. “What?”

“You said he’s an incompetent fool, right? Well, he’s also a major asshole and I want you to fire him.”

Ben blinked a couple of times. “Have you suddenly met Hux?” he asked. “Because I don’t understand where this is coming from.”

“No, I have not met Hux, and if I am ever face-to-face with him, it’s going to take all of my self-control not to deck him.”

“Baby, I am very confused.”

“I found out Rose’s issue with you and it involves past experiences with Hux, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. But I want you to fire him because of it. It sounds like you have good cause to do so anyway.”

“Hux? Hux uses Resistance’s services?”

“He used to at the very least,” Rey said. “Apparently this thing with Rose happened until some woman named Phasma came back into his life.”

“Phasma is his ex-wife,” Ben said. “Well, his almost ex-wife. They got back together before the divorce could be finalized.”

“Whoever she is doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is that he is a motherfucking bastard and I want you to fire him.”

“That would be a serious abuse of my powers, Rey.”

“But you’ve been wanting to do it anyway,” Rey pointed out. “Just tell people you couldn’t handle his incompetency anymore.”

“Hm,” Ben mused. “The Solo Oil stock has been very up and down recently based on comments that he’s made. One more dip and I could call an emergency board meeting.”

“Please do this for me.”

“And you’re really not going to tell me what this is about?”

“No, I’m not. Rose didn’t even want to tell me. I’m sure as fuck not telling you.”

Ben leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Fine. I’ll fire Hux at the first available opportunity that won’t raise eyebrows. That’ll help make life easier for me too, though my father will be furious.”

“How did lunch with him go?”

“Horribly,” Ben said honestly. “I was really looking forward to relaxing with you tonight, and then you ditched me and wouldn’t answer my calls.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey breathed out. “I just needed to talk to Rose after our conversation this morning. It got all kinds of thoughts going through my mind that I didn’t know how to process. I still don’t know how to process.”

“Can I help?”

“No, I don’t think you can,” Rey said after a moment. “I just have to accept that you’ve had sex with a fuck ton of people compared to me. No wonder you’re so good at it.”

“You’re pretty damn good at it too, you know,” Ben pointed out. “And I’m sorry, baby. I wish there was some way for me to change that.”

“Me too,” Rey admitted quietly. “But I’m going to figure out a way to deal with it.”

“I’ll help in any way that I can.”

“Come pick me up.”

“What?”

“You need to relax, I need to relax. We can’t do that while we’re in two different places and I don’t feel like walking six blocks. My feet hurt because I did a lot of standing today.”

Ben broke out into a grin. “Really?”

“Yes,” Rey said, and he could hear her smile. “I’ll be waiting.”

Rey hung up the phone before Ben could say another word, and he quickly stood and headed for his keys and wallet. The sooner he picked up Rey, the sooner that he could lose himself in the arms of the woman he loved and forget about his lunch with his father.

Though he supposed that he was going to have to tell Rey that Han had ordered him to end their relationship. But that didn’t need to happen that night.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my birthday, so I wrote you all a chapter as a gift. Or something like that.
> 
> You'll get some more understanding on something that a lot of you have been curious about in this one.

Alderaan was the most upscale restaurant in the entire city and Rey was more than aware of it as Ben pulled the car up in front of the building. “I’m nervous.”

“It’s just lunch,” Ben said, making Rey look at him. “It’s in a fancy place, but at the end of the day, it’s just lunch.”

“With your mother, in full view of cameras where anyone could overhear.”

“With my mother? Yes. In full view of cameras and where anyone could overhear? No. There will likely be pictures of you two walking into and out of the private room, but lunch itself will be in a private room that will be just the two of you unless there is a waiter bringing you food and drinks.”

Rey felt immediate relief. “Really?”

“I promise, baby,” Ben said, leaning over to kiss her. “Now, get in there before my mother starts calling me wanting to know where you are. She likes people being punctual.”

Rey had the car door open before she could blink. “I don’t want to anger her.”

“You won’t, I promise,” Ben said, rolling down the window as Rey closed the door. “Enjoy lunch, okay, baby? Text me when you’re ready and I’ll be here to pick you up.”

Rey nodded and smoothed down her skirt. “Wish me luck?”

“You don’t need luck, baby. Mama already loves you. As do I.” And then Ben rolled up the window and drove off. 

Rey took a couple of deep breaths and turned around, walking into the building before she could think about things any more. The hostess looked up at her and then back down at her paperwork, and Rey didn’t know what to say to get her attention. She could probably get her to look back up, but Rey didn’t know what the reservation would be under or whether Leia was already there.

And then the door opened behind her and the hostess looked up. “Mrs. Solo, Mrs. Skywalker, welcome back to Alderaan.”

Rey was relieved and turned to see Leia walk into the lobby, Padmé right behind her. Rey hadn’t known that Padmé would be joining them but seeing Ben’s grandmother helped settle some of her nerves. She’d only met Padmé once, but knowing what a big influence she had been on Ben had made her adore her already.

Besides, being seen with both of them would probably help sell that approval from Ben’s family that this lunch was supposed to be showing off.

“Will it be just the two of you today?” the hostess asked, and Rey suddenly realized why she’d barely been acknowledged.

You had to be _someone_ to eat at Alderaan, and in the eyes of the hostess, Rey was only someone who had walked into the wrong place. 

“No, Rey will be joining us,” Padmé said as Leia walked up to Rey, pulling her into a hug.

“It is so good to see you again, Rey. I’m so glad that we were finally able to make this lunch work.”

“It’s good to see you too, Leia,” Rey said, trying to keep the nerves out of her voice.

“Ah, yes, I was just telling Ms. Palpatine that you hadn’t arrived yet,” the hostess suddenly said, and that made Rey realize something else.

She might not be _someone_ , but she was now someone enough that impressing people like Leia and Padmé by lying to them was a good thing to do in order to keep your job.

Leia just gave Rey a knowing look and then wrapped a hand around her elbow, following the hostess and Padmé into the restaurant. “Don’t worry about that,” Leia said softly. “I’ll take care of it.”

“It’s fine, Leia,” Rey tried to say, but Leia was shaking her head. 

“No one should disrespect you like that, and I will be taking care of it.” Rey just shut up and nodded, and Leia smiled. “I’m so glad that you came up with this idea. It really is time for the two of us to get to know you better. Besides, it sounds like you need to learn a thing or two about my husband.”

Rey was very confused, but she just nodded. “Well, I want to get to know the two of you better as well.”

Leia glanced over at Rey as they arrived at a private room. “Ben hasn’t told you yet, has he?”

They were seated at the table inside the room and the door was closed before Rey felt comfortable answering that question. “Ben hasn’t told me what?”

Padmé just shook her head. “I told you that he was just going to ignore what Han said completely.”

“I thought he would have at least mentioned it to Rey since it concerned her,” Leia said, sighing. “I’m worried that the two of them aren’t going to be on speaking terms soon.”

“I could see that happening before all of this gets resolved,” Padmé replied, looking over at Rey with a smile. “Oh, don’t be too scared, dear. It’s not going to happen.”

“What is it I’m supposed to not be scared of happening?” Rey asked, and she was furious with Ben for keeping whatever this was from her. “Because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That is because my son is digging in his heels and refusing to give in to his father,” Leia said, reaching out and putting a hand on Rey’s forearm. “Han practically ordered Ben to end your relationship.”

Rey felt her heart drop into her stomach. “What?”

“As I said, don’t be too scared, Rey,” Padmé said. “Ben’s not going to do it.”

Rey suddenly reached for the glass of water on the table and drank half of it, thoughts about whether that was proper etiquette or not abandoning her. 

What was so wrong with her that Han was ordering Ben to break up with her?

When she set the glass back down, Leia and Padmé were watching her with concerned eyes. “Sorry,” Rey got out before the door to the room opened and a waiter walked in. 

The waiter talked with Leia and Padmé, completely ignoring Rey, but that was fine with her. Champagne was being set in front of her and she was grateful that there was going to be some alcohol involved. It would help settle her nerves and hopefully temper her anger because right then, she could absolutely kill Ben. 

Fuck him for keeping this from her.

The waiter left the room and Rey immediately reached for the champagne, taking a much smaller sip than she had of the water. Padmé and Leia both took sips of their own, and then Rey decided to finish what she’d been saying before they’d been interrupted. “Sorry,” she started again, “but I tend to do that when I’m furious.”

“Don’t be too mad at Ben,” Padmé said. “He probably doesn’t know how to handle this because Han has never done this to him before.”

“And I guarantee you that he doesn’t know the reason why Han is doing this either, so that’s just made him more furious,” Leia added. “But I will be telling you so that when you bring this up with my son, you can explain it to him.”

“That’s not my place,” Rey started, but Leia just smiled at her. 

“You’re part of the family now, Rey. I trust you to pass along messages to my son.”

“I didn’t know I was considered part of the family,” Rey said shakily.

“When my grandson is making it perfectly clear that he’s met the woman he wants to marry, you better believe that you become a part of the family,” Padmé said. 

“We’ve only known each other for five months,” Rey got out. “I don’t know how we can be at that point yet.”

“You fall in love with the right one very quickly,” Padmé responded. “Ben has known that the right one is you for months. Surely he’s mentioned that.”

“A little too much,” Rey said before she could think about it. “It’s not that I’m not flattered that he thinks that, but…”

“You quite clearly think taking on the role of his wife is rather daunting,” Leia said, and Rey decided to just nod. “That’s perfectly natural, Rey. The other women that Ben has dated came from significant wealth but that wealth still would have been dwarfed by the wealth that comes with marrying Ben. I can imagine that for someone of simpler wealth that things are quite overwhelming.”

Simpler wealth. Rey had never heard being completely broke described quite like that.

“Very overwhelming,” Rey admitted. “And we haven’t even had the conversation about the money yet. I just know he has a lot.”

“See, Leia, it’s things like that which Han needs to hear.”

“I know that, Mama, but that could also be taken the wrong way and considered something that proves his point.”

“Would you please tell me what you’re talking about?” Rey asked, and Leia sighed. 

“I don’t know how to say this any other way but being blunt about it. Han thinks you’re a golddigger.”

Rey swallowed hard. Great, now she had to overcome that too.

“A golddigger,” she said slowly. “How nice.”

“Ben knows that isn’t the case, Rey. He made that very clear to Han, I promise you. Han is just speaking from past experiences that I know that he’s never told Ben about. I’d thought he’d moved past all that but apparently not.”

“Yes, one would think that Han had moved past all of that, but Ben has never been in this position before either,” Padmé said, picking up her menu. “Let’s decide what to order first so that a decision is made when the waiter returns. Then we can get into this conversation.”

“Yes, Mama,” Leia said, reaching for her menu, so Rey did the same.

By the time that the waiter was getting their orders, Rey was incredibly grateful that she had somewhat of an idea of what she’d ordered as opposed to having to ask like she had done at dinner with Poe and Zorii. She picked up her refilled champagne glass and took a sip as the waiter left the room, and then she turned her attention to Leia. “What is it that Ben doesn’t know?”

“I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Rey, but Han is thirteen years older than me,” Leia started. “So he was looking for a wife long before I came of age. When he was at college, he met a woman named Qi’ra who was from a simpler background like you are. He fell deeply in love with her, just as Ben has done with you, but Qi’ra was not like you.”

“She wanted Han’s money,” Padmé said. “And she really thought that she was going to get it too.”

“She said the wrong thing to Han’s mother, however,” Leia continued. “Han was then made aware of the situation and so he ended their relationship. Qi’ra, now knowing she was never going to get that money, ran to the papers and sold them every lie she could until Han threatened to sue her for both slander and libel because of how she was spreading those lies. That got her to shut up and go away. But the damage was done.

“Han kept to himself for a very long time after that, afraid to put himself in a position like that again. We were introduced at a function at the Beys and then things changed. Han has told me since that he now knows he never loved Qi’ra because I’m the one that taught him how to love. Our relationship is not without challenges, but it’s on a much more even ground than his relationship with Qi’ra ever would have been because of my background.

“But because of the situation with Qi’ra, Han has always insisted on Ben associating himself with no one but the children of the social elite. Every time Ben ends up in the papers because of a woman just reminds him of it. But he’s always brushed that off as Ben having met a woman from a family that was not good enough. He’s cut families out of our social circle because of how their daughters have treated Ben in the end. So when he ended up in the papers over you, and you weren’t from a family that is part of the social elite, he was furious and he let Ben know that. But he also thought that things would naturally run its course and this would be over by now. Then he found out Ben wants to marry you, and he was ordering Ben to end your relationship before I could even have a conversation with him. But as we said, don’t worry. Ben’s not going to do it.”

Rey felt like her head was spinning. How was she supposed to tell Ben all of that? “I don’t know what to say.”

“The important thing here is that we trust Ben’s judgment,” Padmé said. “If Ben thinks you’re good enough to be his wife, then you’re good enough to be his wife. Han is just blinded by his past experience. What we would really like is for you to agree to come to the family dinner on Saturday so that not only Han can get to know you better, but so that my husband and my son and his wife can get to know you. So what do you say?”

At that moment, the last place that Rey wanted to be was anywhere near Han Solo. But she was never going to win him over if she didn’t make an attempt, and telling Ben she wasn’t ready for a family dinner was very different than telling his mother and grandmother that she wasn’t ready for that. After all, this was a relationship that they thought was heading towards marriage and she had to be very careful not to ruin that for herself before she decided she really did want that.

“Sounds great,” Rey said shakily, and she was saved from having to say any more by the door opening. 

“Excellent,” Padmé said. “Here comes our first course.”

Rey saw a plate of salad be set in front of her and was relieved it was something she’d actually eat, and once the door was closed again, Padmé turned her attention to Leia. “Mara was telling me that the two of you had lunch with Amilyn the other day, Leia. How did that go?”

Rey had no idea who Amilyn was, but she was incredibly relieved that the subject had been changed. 

The rest of the lunch went well, the conversation about much more neutral topics. Rey loved being able to talk about the MOMA project and her work at Arts Unleashed, and she’d never been happier to have that job than she was at the fact that she actually had something to talk about that Leia and Padmé were clearly interested in. By the time the lunch was over and Rey was getting into Ben’s car outside the building, she considered it to have been successful, which was a major relief.

“How was lunch?” Ben asked as he merged back into traffic.

Rey didn’t answer him, the anger she’d suppressed during lunch now back in full force. Ben looked over at her after a moment. “Did it go terribly? I’ll speak to Mama and Grandma about it if necessary.”

“It was fine,” Rey made herself say.

Ben turned his eyes back to the road. “But you are obviously not alright. So what happened? Did they say something that upset you?”

“Yes, they did, but it was something you should have said to me first.”

“I’m sorry?”

Rey forced herself to take a deep breath. “When exactly were you planning on telling me about what your father ordered you to do?”

Ben swallowed hard. “Well, I am not going to do it, so I didn’t think it was that important to do.”

“Ben, your father ordered you to break up with me and I just had to sit there with your mother and grandmother and listen to them tell me why that is. Fuck you for thinking it wasn’t important.”

“Mama assured me that they don’t feel that way,” Ben said quickly. “I thought I was sending you into an entirely safe space.”

“First off, you didn’t send me anywhere,” Rey said bitterly. “I chose to have lunch with your mother. Your grandmother just happened to unexpectedly join us.”

“Right,” Ben said quickly. “You’re right. But I thought that you were going to be welcomed. I would have warned you if I thought you weren’t.”

“I was welcomed,” Rey replied. “I was welcomed in so much that I was given a message to pass along to you and I most definitely do not appreciate having to be the one to do so.”

Ben gave her a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“I was told why your father has such a problem with me.”

“His unwritten bullshit rules.”

“No.”

“No?”

Rey leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and then told Ben everything Leia and Padmé had said about Han and Qi’ra. Ben didn’t know what to say after she was finished, and the ride was silent for several minutes. “I don‘t think that,” Ben eventually said. “I don’t think you’re a golddigger.”

“I know you don’t,” Rey said softly. “But I don’t know how to handle the fact that your father does.”

“We’re just going have to prove him wrong then,” Ben said seriously. “Because I am not giving you up.”

“Well, we’re apparently getting our first chance on Saturday because I agreed to go to your family dinner.”

“Fuck that, we’re not going anywhere near him.”

“It’s not just to have dinner with him. I am also supposed to be meeting your grandfather and aunt and uncle, and I don’t think skipping out on it is a good idea now that I’ve agreed to it,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “So we’re going, no matter how much the thought terrifies me.”

“I’ll be right next to you the whole evening,” Ben said, letting a hand drift over to rest on her knee. “And then I will make things up to you when we get home. In fact, I’ll make things up to you right now. As soon as we get home.”

“Oh no, you’re taking me to my apartment.”

Ben looked over at her. “What?”

“You should have told me what your father said, Ben. Because you didn’t and I looked like an idiot in front of your mother and grandmother, you are being punished. Take me to my apartment.”

“Baby.”

“It’s at least a night apart,” Rey said, her voice the strongest it had been since she got in the car. “We’ll see if I feel like making that two in the morning.”

“Baby, I know you’re mad, but I was trying to protect you.”

“And I have told you that I need to know all of these things. The world already thinks that I’m not good enough for you. I need to know if your own family feels that way.”

“But baby…”

“The more you talk, the more nights apart it’s going to be. Now take me to my apartment.”

Ben stayed silent, but soon he was pulling into the underground garage at Rey’s building. “I’m sorry, Rey. I really am. I just didn’t want you to know what a dick my father was being.”

Rey leaned over and kissed Ben softly. “I know. But you still should have told me. I’ll call you in the morning.”

Rey got out of the car before Ben could say anything, and once she was safely in her apartment, she collapsed down onto her bed and ran her hands over her face.

Han thought she was a golddigger.

She knew he was wrong. She didn’t love Ben because of his money. In fact, it made her kind of uncomfortable given that some of it was used to allow Ben to fuck her.

But she couldn’t tell Han that. Past uses aside, telling Han that the money made her uncomfortable would probably just deepen his conviction that Rey was not the right person to marry his son. But she didn’t have any idea how to prove to him that she wasn’t a golddigger than by making it clear that the money made her uncomfortable.

She had no idea what to do.


	15. Chapter 15

Rey woke up the sound of someone buzzing her apartment and she sighed heavily. Her anger at Ben had finally dulled, but it had taken three days apart for her to come to terms with everything that she had to face now. Not only did she need to decide if marrying Ben was something she wanted to do, but she also had to prove to his father that she wasn’t with him just for his money.

She really hoped that Han had no idea where she was living now because finding out that she was living in a luxury apartment that Ben owned probably wouldn’t go over very well.

She made herself get up off the bed, thought about the fact that she probably should make it up with sheets at some point, and went to the door to answer it, checking her watch along the way. “It’s four o’clock in the morning,” she said when she pressed the right button. “What do you want?”

“I know I promised to leave you alone until you were ready to see me, but baby, I need to talk to you,” came Ben’s voice. “It’s important.”

“A phone call would have sufficed.”

“I’ve been trying to call you for hours. You didn’t answer.”

Rey sighed heavily. “Fine. Come up.”

“Thank you, baby.”

Rey unlocked the door and then made her way back to the room that all of her stuff was in, grabbing her phone off the dresser and finding twelve missed calls from Ben. He’d been calling every fifteen minutes for three hours. She couldn’t have been that fast asleep. She checked her phone, found it was on silent, and immediately turned the ringer back on. 

She’d have to apologize to him for that. After he apologized to her, of course.

Rey laid back down on the mattress, spent a moment thinking about how she was only wearing her bra and panties, and then closed her eyes. The door opened a couple of minutes later, and Rey heard Ben’s footsteps as he walked around the apartment. “I’m in here,” she called out.

Ben walked into the room a few moments later, frowning at the sight before him. “Baby, you haven’t even made the bed?”

“What do you want?” Rey asked, keeping her eyes closed. “Say it and get out.”

Ben walked over to the sofa and sat down, trying not to think about the fact that it had been days since he’d been able to see Rey like that. “First, I want to apologize. And I mean properly apologize. I never should have kept what my father said from you. I promised you that I would do whatever was necessary to help you get through this and instead of doing that, I made things worse. I swear that I will never do that again should you decide that you still want to be with me. I will also understand if you don’t.”

Rey took all of that in and then sighed. “What else do you want?”

Ben swallowed hard. “Am I not forgiven?”

“I want to know what else you have to say, Ben.”

Ben nodded even though Rey still had her eyes closed. “I went over to Mama and Dad’s tonight so that I could talk to my father,” he said. “And all that ended up in achieving was a screaming match, a few broken things that Mama’s probably not going to be happy about, and me telling him that I’m never speaking to him again.”

Rey’s eyes flew open and she sat up. “What?”

“His reasons for why he wants me to end this might stem from his experience with this Qi’ra woman, but he isn’t even giving you the chance to show him that you’re not like her. You deserve better than that. You deserve so much better than that. And if my father has such a problem with my judgment then he is not worth my time.”

“Ben,” Rey breathed out, but Ben just kept talking.

“He has been convinced for years that I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to my life. You are far from the first woman he has been disapproving of. He thinks that I’m too rash and ruthless when it comes to making decisions for the companies. He thinks his outdated methods are still better even though profits have increased by nearly thirty percent since I started running things. He is still absolutely furious with me for forcing him out of Solo Oil, and he hated the fact that I fired Hux yesterday as you asked me to do.

“At the end of the day, while I’m sure that the Qi’ra stuff has an impact on what is happening, everything goes back to the fact that his problem is with me and everything I do. So, no more. Until he realizes that he stopped being allowed to make decisions for me a long fucking time ago, then we are not going to speak. At all. I already informed Mama that we will not be attending any family dinners that Dad is also at. She asked me to reconsider, but the last thing I need is the rest of the family getting involved and trying to resolve things between us at the dinner table. 

“I want you, and I’m going to always want you, and even if I have fucked this up beyond repair, I’m still going to want you. If you say that you don’t want this anymore, then I will live the rest of my life alone. He can either fucking deal with that and allow me to be my own person or I’m never speaking to him again. I just wanted to tell you all of that before it somehow becomes front-page news because, given the fact that there was staff in the penthouse while we were shouting and breaking things, I’m sure that one of the papers will have that story in no time.”

Ben stood up and started to leave the room, so Rey scrambled off the bed and ran to him. “Ben.”

Ben turned around and Rey wrapped her arms around him. “Are you really sure that this is the right thing to do?” she asked. “Because I am not worth you not speaking to your father.”

“You are worth everything in the world,” Ben said, encircling her waist. “Absolutely everything. And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I know,” Rey said softly. “And you are forgiven. But I am not worth destroying your family over.”

“I’m not destroying my family,” Ben said seriously. “You are my family. The family we could have together is my family. My father is a motherfucking asshole who wants to cost me my family.”

Rey swallowed hard. “Ben, stop. You just implied that we’re going to have children and I…I can’t handle that.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Ben said quickly. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Rey just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Kiss me,” she murmured.

Ben smiled and complied with her request, bringing their lips together gently. The kiss deepened quickly and Ben’s hands began to roam the bare skin of Rey’s back, sliding his fingers underneath her bra and down into the back of her panties. Rey moaned into the kiss and reached up, tugging at Ben’s coat until they broke the kiss so he could get it off. Her hands went to the buttons of his shirt as Ben trailed kisses down her neck, and Rey couldn’t help but wonder how it was that she’d lived without this for three whole days. 

“Ben,” she whispered into his ear, “I need you to fuck me.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Ben mumbled into her skin, his hands going to the clasp of her bra.

The bra hit the ground a moment later and Ben kissed his way down to one of her breasts, kissing and licking along Rey’s skin until he reached her nipple. He teased it with his lips and teeth as Rey threw her head back and moaned. “Fuck, you feel so good,” she got out. 

“So do you,” Ben said, his kisses caressing the valley between her breasts. “I missed this so much.”

Rey finally got his shirt unbuttoned and ran her hands across the plains of his chest, letting her fingers dance over all the sensitive spots she’d found. “I don’t want to fuck on my mattress without sheets on it,” she got out as Ben teased her other nipple. “And I don’t want to stop and put sheets on it.”

“Then where?” Ben said, pulling back to look at her. “You clearly haven’t gotten around to getting furniture yet.”

Rey looked around the room before letting go of Ben, opening up the drawer of what used to be her bedside table. She grabbed a condom and then went back to him, taking him by the hand and pulling him in the direction of the shower. Ben grinned as they walked into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around Rey’s waist and kissing her sweetly. “Are you sure? I know you had an issue with this shower.”

Rey nodded and broke away from him so she could start the water. “I don’t care about how many women you fucked in here anymore. I just care about you fucking me in here right now.”

“Then I am very much looking forward to this.”

Rey laughed. “You better be, Mr. Solo.”

Ben felt himself harden more than he had been. “Fuck, I missed you calling me that.”

“I just missed you,” Rey said, looking at him over her shoulder. “And you are wearing far too many clothes.”

Ben worked on stripping off his clothes while Rey adjusted the water temperature, and when she thought it was right, she turned back to him and reached for her panties. Ben’s hands were stopping her before she could get very far, dropping to his knees in front of her and carefully lowering them himself. Once he worked them from around her ankles, he tossed them to the side and ran his hands up the inside of Rey’s legs, smiling when she instinctively widened them. “You ready for me to make you feel good, baby?”

Rey gasped as a finger slid past her folds and into her, and she leaned back against the shower door, trying desperately to find something to grasp onto. “Shower, Mr. Solo.”

“That can wait for a minute,” Ben murmured, thrusting his finger in and out. “It won’t be running out of hot water anytime soon.”

Rey didn’t want to know how Ben knew that, so she forced her thoughts onto where Ben was kissing up her thigh. “You’re going to make me collapse if you keep that up.”

“Well, we can’t have that happening,” Ben said, pulling away and swooping Rey up into his arms, setting her down on the counter and spreading her legs. 

Rey gasped as the finger slid back into her, letting herself fall back until her head hit the mirror. “Ben, fuck.”

“Don’t worry,” Ben murmured as he dropped to his knees again. “We’ll get to that.”

He pulled his finger from her and licked along her, tonguing her entrance before moving up to lick and suck at her clit. Rey moaned loudly as Ben slid two fingers into her, feeling the sensations start to overwhelm her. Ben’s name was a constant litany from her lips, turning into a scream when her climax tore through her. 

Ben gently licked at her as she came down from the high, and then he stood up and grinned at her. “Ready for our shower?”

Rey shook her head. “Fuck me here. Now.”

Ben laughed when Rey threw the condom in her hand towards him, catching it before it dropped to the floor. “You don’t want to take a shower with me?”

“I will happily take a shower with you in a little while, but I need you to fuck me now, Mr. Solo.” That name sealed it for Ben, and he tore the condom wrapper open as Rey grinned at him. “I’m sorry I stayed away for so long, Ben. I was just so angry.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Ben said as he rolled the latex on. “I deserved it.”

“You really didn’t,” Rey said, sighing happily when Ben slowly pushed into her. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

Ben buried himself and then bent to kiss Rey deeply. “Tell me when I can move.”

“Move,” Rey said.

Ben’s eyes widened. “But I haven’t given you time to adjust.”

“Fucking move,” Rey ordered, and so Ben obliged.

He fucked her hard and fast, feeling the tension of his fight with his father slowly melt away into nothing but pleasure. He hadn’t come over to the apartment so that this could happen, only wanting to apologize and tell Rey about his decision when it came to Han, but now that he was getting it, he was realizing how much he needed it. “So good, baby,” he breathed out. “Needed this so much.”

“Me too,” Rey said, bringing her fingers down to massage her clit. “Missed you so much. Missed this so much.”

Ben picked up the pace and it wasn’t long until they were both coming, gasping for air once their orgasms were through. Rey had a sated smile on her face when Ben looked up at her, and he bent and kissed her sweetly. “I really am sorry.”

“I know,” Rey murmured. “It’s okay. Just don’t do that to me again.”

“I won’t, I promise,” Ben said, pulling back and reaching down to deal with the condom. “We’ll need another one of these for the shower.”

“No, we’re just going to take a shower, curl up on my mattress, and go to sleep for a while,” Rey said as she climbed down from the counter. “I have work in a matter of hours and so do you.”

“I can take the day off,” Ben said, drawing her into his arms. “And I can tell Zorii that you need the day off.”

“As much as I appreciate that sentiment,” Rey said, kissing him, “I need to be there today so I need to go back to sleep.”

“Fine,” Ben sighed. “I understand. Let’s get in the shower then.” 

They got into the shower and, despite Ben’s best attempts to lengthen it, Rey made sure that they were dressed and curled up on the mattress as quickly as possible. Ben held her as close as he could, happy that he was getting to experience this again. “I love you so much, baby,” he murmured. “I’m so glad that you forgave me. I didn’t deserve it.”

“Yes, you did,” Rey said softly. “I was dealing more with how your father thinks of me than I was actually angry with you. Though I was quite angry that first day, I will admit.”

“My father is a motherfucking asshole,” Ben said sharply. “And I meant what I said, he accepts you or I’m done with him.”

“I know you did,” Rey replied. “But I don’t want to come between you and your father.”

“You’re not. This has been building and building. You’ve just been the last straw. I can’t take any more of this bullshit.”

“I just understand the importance of family,” Rey murmured. “I don’t want to destroy yours.”

“You didn’t,” Ben said, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck. “You’re my family.”

Rey didn’t know how to feel about that, but she needed to sleep instead of talk about it. Work that day was incredibly important because they were almost finished with finalizing the MOMA project plans. She needed to concentrate on that.

She could think about Ben calling her his family another day.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, I have a feeling that some of you are going to hate me because of this, but this has been planned for a while.

Ben was in the middle of a meeting when a message from Josephine marked URGENT popped up on his laptop. He clicked to open it and then sighed when he found nothing but a link to one of those trashy magazines inside of it, and he decided that no matter how urgent it was, he would wait until after the meeting was over and he was back inside his office before reading it. At least that way, no one would hear him swear as loud as he could without screaming.

Closing the message, he turned his attention back to the chart that was being shown in front of him, but only a few seconds went by before another message from Josephine popped up, once again marked URGENT. He opened it, found another link, and then closed it. It could wait too.

But when a message from media marked EXTREMELY URGENT popped up a few moments later, and he found the same two links inside of it, he decided that he had no choice but to open them. He clicked on one, waited for it to load, and then found an article with an exclusive interview with Sheev Palpatine about his gold-digging granddaughter. That one he could understand the urgency on but Rey had already told him she was just waiting for it to happen, so while it was definitely something that needed to be attended to and that Rey needed to be alerted on, that could wait until after the meeting.

The second link, however, made Ben’s heart drop into his stomach.

Rey had told him about the abusive motherfucker from college, and she’d also mentioned the relationship she’d had after that, but she hadn’t really told him anything about that one beyond the fact that the guy’s name was Liam. She had said that it ended so acrimoniously that she preferred to never think about it again and moved on, so Ben hadn’t wanted to press her on it. He always figured that if Rey wanted to tell him any more about it, then she would do so.

He ignored the headline and the salacious text beyond reading that this particular trashy website, the one that Ben had always thought was the trashiest of them all, had gotten an exclusive from Liam. Ex-boyfriends always came out of the woodwork in situations like this and he had been surprised not to have heard anything from any of Rey’s before now. But he’d been expecting a story about her date to prom or a flirtation from French class. 

He had not been expecting this.

There on his screen, with the blurs that always left little to the imagination, was a naked photo of Rey. And as he scrolled down the page, there were a lot more of them. Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath to maintain control of his emotions. He was in the middle of a meeting about proposed price cuts on their consumer courier services. He absolutely could not lose control.

He scrolled back up to the top and really read the headline and its salacious text this time, and that’s when his blood started to boil. 

Forget talking to media about this. He needed to talk to legal first.

“Mr. Solo?” came someone’s voice, and Ben looked up to see everyone staring at him.

“I’m going to have to take everything we’ve discussed under further consideration before I can hear any more of this,” Ben said, pushing his chair back and grabbing his laptop. “We’ll reconvene once I’ve had a chance to do so.”

He walked out of the meeting room before anyone could say a word, heading straight back to his office. Josephine stood as he approached her desk and then followed Ben into his office. “What would you like me to do, Mr. Solo? I can have someone from media up here to brief you in about half an hour.”

“Hold all my calls unless they are from Rey,” Ben said, sitting down at his desk. “Cancel all my afternoon meetings. Hold off on the briefing from media until I speak with her. I have a feeling someone from legal will be needed before the day is over so get someone on standby.”

“Of course, Mr. Solo. Anything else?”

“Leave me.”

Josephine nodded and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. Ben ran his hands over his face before opening his laptop back up, waiting for the article to load again. He took three deep breaths before turning his attention back to it, his eyes zeroing in on the headline again. 

Of all the words that could have been used, they had to have used the word whore.

A fuller reading of the headline made it clear that this was a quote from Liam himself, and Ben now wondered if that was Liam being a lousy motherfucker or something that Liam used to call Rey. If it was the latter...Ben squeezed the arms of his chair as tightly as he could to keep control of himself. Swallowing hard, he read on.

Seeing as Rey had never expanded upon her sex life beyond Ben being lucky number seven, he was unaware of how experienced she’d really been before their relationship began. But if the things that Liam had told the fucking website were true, then it was clear that Rey was very, very experienced. 

Rey’s entire supposed sexual history with Liam was laid out in the article, from positions used to toys she’d loved to how she’d almost always wanted to be tied up. Given some of the photographs that accompanied it, it was clear that at least some of it could possibly be true. 

Ben had never hated someone so much in his life as he did this fucking Liam guy at that moment.

He reached for his phone to call Rey only to remember that she was at the Museum of Modern Art at that moment, preparing for the press conference that would officially announce the plans of this multi-year project with Arts Unleashed that she’d been working so hard on. He had to tell her that this was out there, but he couldn’t interrupt that either.

So he called Poe instead.

“Ben, I don’t have time for this.”

“One of Rey’s exes gave that fucking awful website an exclusive about their sexual history,” he said, his voice far steadier than he felt. “And she has no idea.”

“Fuck,” Poe breathed out, saying something to someone and then coming back on the line a few moments later. “How bad is it?”

“I’m pretty sure I knew absolutely nothing about Rey’s sex life before me if any of this is true,” Ben said. “There’s also a bunch of barely blurred out nude photos.”

“Fuck,” Poe said again. “You need to talk to her now.”

“I don’t want to disrupt this for her. She’s worked so hard on this project.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather her not be in front of a press pack and asked about it right now,” Poe said, and then Ben heard him call out Zorii’s name. “Hang on a moment, Ben.”

Ben could hear the muffled sounds of Poe and Zorii talking for a few minutes before Poe came back on the line. “Where do you want her to go? I’ll drive her there.”

“She should be there, Poe.”

“And I’m trying to save her the embarrassment of what you know is coming when she doesn’t even know that it’s about to,” Poe said seriously. “Where do you want her to go?”

“Her apartment,” Ben said. “They’ll probably stake out mine.”

“Then I’ll take her home,” Poe said, and Ben could hear him call out Rey’s name. “I’ll have her call you from the car.”

“Thank you.”

Ben hung up the phone and forced himself to take deep breaths. He thought back on that first night when he asked Rey to sign the contract and she wanted to know what kind of kinky shit he was into. At the time, he had viewed it as a hope that he wasn’t.

Now, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was a hope that he was.

He mentally screamed at himself not to go down that train of thought. It was entirely possible that ninety-nine percent of all of this was utter bullshit. It was more than just possible. It was likely. This Liam motherfucker whose relationship with her had ended acrimoniously was selling a bunch of lies to humiliate her and profit off it. That’s all that was.

But fuck, the thought that this man had been allowed to touch Rey like that was driving him insane. Rey deserved to be worshipped like a goddess, not touched the way this article made it sound like Liam had. Rey had done nothing, said nothing, that would have led Ben to believe that she wanted any of this if it was true. 

Did she think that he wanted some sort of demure sexual partner so she’d just never mentioned it?

He mentally screamed at himself again just as Josephine came on the intercom. “Mr. Solo? Ms. Palpatine is on the phone.”

Ben picked up the phone and pressed the correct button, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. “Hi, baby.”

“Ben, what the fuck is going on?” came Rey’s voice, and he could tell that she was furious with him. “I have worked my fucking ass off on this and now one phone call to Poe and I’m being whisked home instead of participating in the press conference about it? This had better be really motherfucking important.”

“Do you like being tied up?” was what came out of his mouth and that was so not the right thing to say.

“Excuse me? What the fuck kind of question is that?”

“According to the exclusive that fucking website got from Liam, it sounds like you like to be tied up.” And that had not been the right thing to say either, but fuck, it was all he could think about.

“Exclusive from Liam?” Rey said after a few moments, and her voice was incredibly shaky. 

“I’ll text you the link right now,” Ben said, reaching for his cell phone. “But I’m telling you right now if you tell me a single word of this article is incorrect, we’re fucking suing the website for libel.”

Rey took a shuddering breath. “What does it say, Ben?”

“I think you should read it, baby.”

“What does it say?”

Ben sighed and gave Rey a brief synopsis of the article. “There are also accompanying photos. And I sent the link.”

Rey was silent for a long time. “The pictures are me,” she eventually said. “The rest of it, beyond us having had a lot of sex, is not.”

“Then I will make sure the article is taken down within the hour.”

“It’s too late though, isn’t it?”

“It is not too late to ruin this lousy motherfucker for the libel that article is.”

“Ben, it’s too late, isn’t it?” Ben stayed silent and that answered Rey’s question. “How do I make people realize that this article is bullshit? There has to be some way.”

“You’d hate it.”

“I don’t care. Tell me how.”

“A joint interview with me in which we make it extremely clear that you feel incredibly violated by the lies that your ex has chosen to spread in exchange for money.”

Rey was silent again. “And that’s the only way?”

“That will get things out there from your own mouth? Yes. All the statements in the world can be put out but it will be different if it comes straight from you.”

“I don’t want to give an interview and talk about my sex life.”

“You wouldn’t be talking about your sex life,” Ben said softly. “You would be making it clear that the allegations in this article are categorically false and that you feel violated by the fact that these lies and those pictures were ever published.”

“What can we do right now?” Rey asked quietly. “Because I can’t handle this.”

“Well, I’m going to order someone in legal to get that taken down and that should hopefully be able to be done within the hour,” Ben said, looking over at the clock. “And I have to start threatening people with legal action, Rey. I know you don’t want me to do that, but it’s the only way to stop more of this from happening.”

“But it’s already too late for this.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Ben breathed out. “I’m so sorry for ruining your life.”

“I want Finn and Rose moved in by tomorrow night,” Rey said after a moment. “And then I’m not leaving my apartment for a while.”

“I’ll make sure that happens. And I understand. I’ll stay away.”

“I don’t want you to stay away. I just want them there with me. They’ll be able to get me through this better than you can.”

Ben swallowed hard at the implication. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Get the article taken down. Put out the statement I know you want to. I’m going to go sit in my shower and cry.”

The line went dead before Ben could say another word. He took a deep breath and then texted Rey the link to the interview her grandfather had done because it was better for her to know everything now than to be accused of keeping something from her later. Then he buzzed Josephine. “I want someone from media and someone from legal up here in five minutes.”

“They’re on standby, Mr. Solo, so that should be no problem.”

Ben leaned back in his chair and ran his hands over his face. He could murder Liam for this. 

He could murder Liam for ever touching her at all.

**********

By the time that Ben was leaving the office, six other men had come forward via various trashy websites to claim that Rey had been the same with them as she had been with Liam. Ben did not want to hurt Rey anymore than she already was but he knew she needed to know what was going on, so he sent the link to every article to her and tried not to think about the pain in his chest at the thought that she was going through all of this alone. He’d wanted to walk out of the office as soon as he’d gotten off the phone with her earlier, but staying there to handle the response was important.

The only thing he heard from her all afternoon was a request that he bring dinner with him when he came over, Thai specifically.

His mother had called around one-thirty and demanded Rey’s phone number from him. Ben tried to ask her to leave her alone, but Leia told him in no uncertain terms that she needed a mother at that moment and to give her the number. So he did so, asking her to call him back and tell him how Rey was doing once she was done talking to her, but Leia never did.

Ben was pretty sure that meant that his mother was furious with him.

He ordered the food before he left, picked it up quickly, and then went to Rey’s. There was a car that Ben didn’t recognize in one of the spots for the other apartment, but there was a car that he did recognize in the other spot for Rey’s apartment, and Ben suddenly thought that he should have bought more food.

He supposed they could always order in.

He made his way up to the right floor and then knocked on the door, it opening a moment later to reveal a woman he’d never seen before. “Are you Rose?”

“Yes,” she said. “You’re a bastard.”

And then Rose turned and walked away. 

Ben went towards the kitchen, noticing as he walked that the apartment was suddenly full of furniture that had not been there the last time he was there three days ago. He set the food down on the kitchen counter and turned to see his aunt standing there, and now he was very confused. “Mara?”

“Rey wants to see you,” Mara said, and Ben followed her out of the kitchen and into one of the bedrooms. 

Rey was curled up on a brand new bed, and one look into her eyes told Ben everything he needed to know about how she was feeling. He peeled his suit coat off and toed off his shoes, and then he climbed onto the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms. 

“We’ll get the food situation straightened out,” Mara said, closing the door behind her as she left.

Rey buried her face in Ben’s neck and he held her as close as he could. “I’m so sorry that this is happening, baby,” he said softly. “I’d do anything to make it all stop but I can’t.”

“I know,” Rey murmured. “And I know that you know what this is like too.”

“Mama?” Ben asked after a moment, and Rey nodded. “One of the easiest ways for these motherfuckers to make money is to sell sexual secrets. These trashy websites and magazines don’t care if they’re true. They only care if they will get clicks or sell magazines. The only thing you can do is sue them and receive monetary damages and a public apology.”

“I knew Liam might come forward because he’s that much of a bastard, but I never imagined he’d do something like this.”

“Unfortunately, you have to be ready for anything to wind up in the papers, and it wasn’t until this happened that I realized how woefully unprepared you are for all of this. I have done terribly in letting you know what could happen.”

“Leia, Padmé, and Mara are not happy with you because of that.”

“I deserve that. I deserve your anger too.”

“It’s not you I’m angry with,” Rey said bitterly. “And I want you to ask.”

“Ask?”

“I know you’re wondering about it, so I want you to ask.”

Ben laid there for a moment before realizing what Rey meant. “You said I was number seven.”

“I lied.”

Ben took a deep breath. “So what’s the real number then?”

“Seventeen,” Rey said quietly. “Most of those are from before the abusive motherfucker and Liam, though some are after. Four of them are the others from Resistance, and one of them is you.”

“So the other six from today are real then?”

“Maybe,” Rey said. “I don’t really remember them, but I had a lot of drunk one-night stands in college. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started coming out of the woodwork now that Liam’s ruined my reputation.”

“Did you read the statement I sent you before I put it out?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. Everyone is going to think that everything these assholes said is true.”

“I can’t do anything about that, baby. I’m so, so, so sorry.”

“I don’t want you to apologize. This isn’t your fault.”

“None of this would be happening if I wasn’t Ben fucking Solo.”

“We wouldn’t know each other if you weren’t Ben fucking Solo.” Ben watched as Rey shifted around and looked at him. “I knew I was going to have to go through a lot to be with you. I didn’t think that would be public humiliation at this scale, but I knew it would be a lot. But I stayed. And I stayed because you’re worth it. I wish none of this was happening, but being here with you just reminds me of what I’m going through it for. I love you, Ben. There is nowhere I’d rather be than in your arms. I would be far more miserable without you than I am right now.”

“I still ruined your life.”

“Maybe,” Rey murmured. “But I think that’s something that I get to decide, not you. I just wish that this wasn’t part of what being with you means.”

“I wish that too, baby,” Ben said, sighing when someone knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Rey called out.

“Benjamin, sweetheart, your phone is ringing out here in the kitchen,” came Padmé’s voice. “And if you two want to eat, then your food is ready. We’ve ordered in more for the rest of us.”

“I need to go answer that,” Ben said, letting go of Rey and climbing off the bed. “It’s either someone in legal or media with an update.”

“Then I’m going to come to find out what they say,” Rey said, standing up and walking out of the room.

Ben reached for his suit coat and shoes before following Rey out into the rest of the apartment. He needed to find out what the update was, pass it along to Rey and everyone else, and then eat some food because he was starving.

He did not need to think about the fact that sixteen other men had touched Rey. It was bad enough when he thought it was six. If he dwelled upon it, it would drive him insane.

Somehow he knew he’d be going crazy.


	17. Chapter 17

Leia was talking to Mara about flowers in an attempt to keep the conversation at dinner more lighthearted, but Ben was having trouble concentrating on anything that was happening. Certain things kept coming to his mind that he wished wouldn’t, at least not at that particular moment. The last thing he needed was to be thinking about these things in front of his mother, grandmother, and aunt.

Well, and Rose too, and by the way Rose was glaring at him, he could tell that she would appreciate hearing them just as much as his family would.

He just could not get this stuff off of his mind.

Rey’s claim that she’d only given a handful of blowjobs before giving him the first in a line of the best blowjobs in the history of blowjobs. 

The little roleplaying scenarios that she’d come up with from time to time, or her enthusiastic participation whenever he came up with one.

The way she had always, always, ever since that first night, called him nothing but Mr. Solo while they were having sex.

Now that he knew she was lying to him about her prior sex life, he was pretty sure that she had lied to him while in the car with Poe about that exclusive Liam had given the trashy website. And after they had published the article that they had published today, Ben was henceforth referring to them as the motherfucking trashiest of the motherfucking trashy. It was despicable that they published something so explicit.

Rey could tell the motherfucking world that the only thing that was true about that article was that while in a relationship, the two of them had had a lot of sex, but Ben was now convinced that it wasn’t.

Ben’s phone let off an alert tone and he pulled up an email from Josephine with a list of times which the moving company was available to move Rose and Finn’s belongings the next day, so when there was a break in the conversation, he used it to address Rose for the first time since she had opened the door. “Rose, how packed up is your apartment?”

“That is none of your fucking business,” Rose snapped, so Ben took a deep breath and tried again.

“I only ask because I have just been sent a list of available times from the moving company and I need to know which time to confirm.”

“Moving company?” Mara questioned.

“Rose and Finn are going to move into the other apartment on the floor,” Rey said. “I need my friends around me.”

“I think that’s a wonderful use of that apartment,” Leia said. “And you should have your friends so close, especially in a time like this.”

“Which is why I asked Ben to make it so that Rose and Finn were moved in by tomorrow night,” Rey said, looking over at Rose. “So would you please answer Ben’s question?”

“Rey, Finn and I are nowhere near ready to move. We only agreed to this a week and a half ago.”

“I understand that, Rose, but I need you to be here with me. It doesn’t even have to be all of your stuff. It can just be part of it for now. I’m sure Ben would have no problem arranging for the moving company a second time.”

Everyone’s eyes shot to Ben. “Of course that wouldn’t be a problem,” he said quickly. “As many times as are necessary.”

“I have nothing to fucking say to you,” Rose muttered, and Rey picked up a plastic fork and threw it at her. 

“Knock it off.”

“What, I’m not allowed to be angry? This is only happening because of who he is. It’s his motherfucking fault.”

Ben swallowed hard, but Rey just picked up another fork and threw it at her. “Stop it. Now.”

“There’s an article out there that makes you sound like a whore, Rey,” Rose said, and Ben could see Rey’s grip on her glass tighten. “I am going to be furious with him over that.”

“If there is anyone to be furious with, it’s motherfucking Liam for being such a lousy motherfucker!” Rey exclaimed. “Ben is doing everything in his power to make this easier for me, and he has a hell of a lot more power to influence things than I do.”

“Sure, blame Liam. He’s a motherfucker. I’m not denying that. But it wouldn’t be on that website if it wasn’t for him,” Rose said, motioning in Ben’s direction. “And you fucking know that.”

“Get the fuck out,” Rey said, abruptly standing up and walking out of the room. 

Leia caught Ben’s eye and nodded in the direction that Rey had gone. “The three of us are going to have a talk with Miss Tico,” she said, and Ben just knew that wasn’t going to go well. 

As he walked out of the room to find Rey, Ben prayed that Rose had enough fucking sense not to say something about how the two of them had really met. He was pretty sure that she did since she also used to work at Resistance, but given how angry Rose was at that moment, Ben was going to brace himself for the possibility of anything coming out of her mouth.

He found Rey back in that same bedroom, and he crawled up onto the bed and curled around her back. Rey burrowed into his embrace and they laid there in silence for a long while. Ben had a million questions he wanted to ask her, starting with why the fuck she felt she needed to lie to him about how many men she’d had sex with, but he decided that the smart thing to do at that moment was to ask a neutral question. “Where did the furniture come from?”

He could feel Rey’s confusion. “What?”

“Where did the furniture come from?” Ben asked again. “It was not here three days ago, and you have been at my place ever since.”

Rey took a deep breath. “Your mother.”

“My mother?” Now Ben was the one who was confused.

“Well, your aunt, more specifically. Apparently her sister is involved with some high-end furniture store. Your mother and grandmother came over here to be with me, found that I had nothing but that shit that used to be in my old apartment, and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a website and picking out stuff and it all arrived a couple of hours later with Mara in tow.”

“How did you explain your ability to pay for all of it then?”

“I didn’t pay for it. You paid for it. Your mother knew that you had an account at whatever the fuck store this was and told them to just charge everything to it. She said I’d still be buying furniture two years from now if I did it piece by piece and waited until I could afford things. The only way I was going to feel like I was home was if it looked like a home.”

“That must be the store I bought all the stuff for the penthouse at then,” Ben mused. “Mara hooked me up with that place. I didn’t know her sister was involved in it.”

“I don’t know. It’s just what Leia said.”

Silence descended upon them then, and Ben tried to think of a way to ask the questions that he needed to ask. “Legal is going to want to know in the morning if you want to file a libel lawsuit against the website and Liam,” he said carefully. “So if there is anything in that article that you know Liam can prove to be true, I’m going to need to know it.”

“I don’t want to file the lawsuit,” Rey mumbled. “I don’t want my sexual history laid bare in a courtroom.”

“It was laid bare on the Internet today.’

Rey closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “There is a lot that isn’t true, but there is also some that is, and I’d rather not have to testify in a courtroom about the fact that I used to like being tied up and roughly fucked, okay?”

Ben tightened his grip around her waist. “Used to?”

Rey swallowed hard. “It was just a bit of fun at first. I was free of the abusive motherfucker, Liam seemed like someone that I could just have a good time with, and I got adventurous. But then he got controlling. Demanding. It never went past the point of being consensual, so don’t think that. I agreed to everything. But it stopped being fun. And since it’s not fun anymore, I don’t want to do it anymore.

“That’s not to say that there are not certain things about it that are starting to become fun again. Our little roleplaying every once and a while. The fact that since you are extremely gentle about it and don’t do it every time, I kind of like it when you hold me down. Fucking up against the windows when anyone could look over and see. It’s not extreme, it’s not too much, and it’s fun. If at any point I started thinking you were going too far, I know I could say something and you’d back off immediately. You have made it clear since the very first night that you don’t want to make me do something uncomfortable. You have no idea how that makes me feel after being with Liam, who towards the end seemed like he was trying to make me as uncomfortable as possible.”

“Oh, baby,” Ben breathed out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you talk about it.”

“I have to fucking talk about it, Ben. It’s the only way I’m not going to go insane,” Rey said firmly. “I didn’t know he had those pictures and I don’t even want to think about what other pictures he could have of me that might end up public. I can’t let myself dwell on the fact that they probably are going to end up out there if he does have more. If I concentrate on this too much, it’s going to tear me apart. But yet it’s all I can think about. 

“At least when Leia and Padmé were helping me pick out what type of wood I wanted the bookshelves to be or what color sofa would look best in the reception room I wasn’t thinking about it. But all of that is over now. I’m left with nothing but thoughts of how my grandfather fucking read that article today, and I know he did because I have five voicemails on my phone of him calling me nothing more than a dirty whore like my mother was, and I just...that is bothering me more than anything. But I can’t tell Rose that, and I don’t want to tell Leia, Padmé, and Mara that, and I really hoped that they would all leave when you got here.”

“Then I’ll get them all to leave,” Ben said. “I can go out there right now and get them all to leave.”

“No, I don’t want you to do that,” Rey said softly. “Remember how I told you I felt like I was going to break under this pressure? Well, today I did. And I sobbed in Padmé’s arms for nearly an hour. All I could think about was how happy I was that I had a family to get me through this. But they’re not my family. They’re your family. So I still have all the problems that come from that, because while I was crying in Padmé’s arms, Leia was on the phone arguing with your father over all of this because the fact that I wasn’t some virginal saint when we met is now a problem too.”

“I fucking hate him so much right now,” Ben practically growled. 

“I don’t want you to hate him over this. I understand this. I don’t understand the rest of his opinion of me, but I understand this one.”

“What?” Ben said, confused.

“Let’s play hypotheticals for a minute, okay?” Rey said. “I am from what your father considers to be a good family, you and I get married, and we have a son, our only child. As time goes on and he grows, he doesn’t get married, and now he’s nearly forty. Then he finds someone outside of our social circle and falls in love with her. He wants to marry her. Their relationship goes public and then all these ex-boyfriends start coming out of the woodwork about her sex life before she met our son. Same sort of stuff as what came out about me today. 

“It would humiliate her, for sure, but it would also cast a light on our son. ‘Well, if she likes to do all this kinky shit, then that must mean that he does too!’ Their sex life should be their own private thing but suddenly everyone has an opinion on it, including all of the people from our social circle who are disapproving of her anyway. Now she’s some sort of sexual deviant who is leading our son astray. The public perception would be all about the two of them, but for us, for the parents who have to deal with our friends in this social circle, it would be embarrassing to the family, Ben. That’s where your father was coming from today and I don’t blame him for that.

“There is going to come a time when our relationship becomes too much of a problem for you to deal with any longer,” Rey got out. “And that is going to break me into more pieces than numbers exist. But I’m going to understand because this is a dream that today became nightmarish and one of these days, you’re going to realize I’m not worth this destruction of you and your family’s reputations.”

“I don’t give a fuck about my reputation,” Ben said seriously. “And I don’t give a fuck about the family’s reputation either. I give a fuck about you and having you next to me till I die. I don’t know how I could ever survive without that. And I know I’m not supposed to say that, but I felt that it was necessary right now.”

“You can’t mean that.”

“I mean it more than you could ever know,” Ben said, pressing a kiss along the back of her neck. “I don’t know what else I have to do to prove that to you.”

“So finding out that I lied to you hasn’t changed that?” Rey asked quietly, and Ben pulled her as close as he could. 

“Never, though I am very confused as to why you felt you needed to lie to me. You knew that I couldn’t count the number of women I’ve had sex with on one hand. Or two hands, for that matter.”

Rey sucked in a sharp breath. “I told Liam the number once and he started to call me his little whore after that. It’s where the quote in the headline of that fucking article is from. And that has stayed with me ever since because society says women who have lots of sexual partners are whores. One of the reasons why I resisted working at Resistance was because that number was going to go up. And it was probably going to go up a lot. I mean, I know Rose’s number because she’s told me, and the thought of mine being that high terrified me. All I could think about was if anyone found out that I had a number like that, then I would be dismissed as nothing but a whore again, just like I had been by Liam.

“So, before I started working there I promised myself that I would only count the abusive motherfucker and Liam in any number I gave out should I choose to give one. You already knew about the other clients and yourself, so that made the number seven. So, that’s what I told you. I don’t regret saying it. I’m sorry I lied to you, but I don’t regret doing it. I trust you, Ben, but I trusted Liam when I told him the number, and then I got called a whore for three years. I didn’t know how you’d react. Men that fuck around are considered studs. I didn’t want you to think I was a slut, a whore, or whatever horrific term women get slapped with that you want to insert into this conversation.”

Ben moved away from Rey enough to roll her onto her back so he could look in her eyes, but he found them shut. “Baby, look at me.”

Rey kept her eyes closed. “Rey, please, look at me.”

Rey laid there for a moment but eventually opened her eyes. “What?”

Ben took a deep breath then spoke honestly. “I wish you had just told me the truth. I do. But I also completely understand you thinking that I could have possibly reacted like that because of what society has taught you. But I want you to look into my eyes and see the honesty there when I tell you that I will never, ever, consider you to be a whore. Ever. The number could be one hundred and seventeen and I wouldn’t think that.”

“Don’t be absurd, Ben.”

“I’m not,” Ben said seriously. “I never wanted inexperienced women, Rey. You didn’t fit my profile that night because of how few clients you’d had. Being with a woman who has had a lot of sexual partners isn’t new to me. I never considered any of them whores and I will never consider you one either.”

Rey laid there and took in the truth in Ben’s eyes before pulling him to her and kissing him. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Ben murmured, kissing her again. “And I mean every word of that.”

“I know you do,” Rey said, pushing him off of her. “Let’s go see if Rose can be civil to you.”

“It’s okay that she’s angry, baby.”

“No, it’s really not,” Rey said, standing up. “If they aren’t ready to get stuff moved by tomorrow night, can we just fill the apartment with furniture like your mother helped me do today? I need them there, Ben.”

“If Rose will agree to that, I will make it happen. I don’t want to upset her more.”

Rey pulled Ben close to her again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and Ben pulled her into a deep kiss.

“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for,” Ben said seriously. “I do have one question though.”

“What?”

“Can I instruct legal to get an injunction against that fucking website posting any more pictures that Liam may have?”

Rey blinked. “You can do that?”

“I think so.”

Rey nodded. “That I will allow you to do.”

“Then I’ll make the call. You gauge Rose’s reaction to your plans and be sure to say that I’ll pay for all of it. I don’t want my family questioning where Rose got money for stuff like that from.”

“Definitely.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a few days but I got caught up in writing something else (the eleven chapters of Paris/NY that I wrote, I'm looking at you) and I didn't realize that I'd let so many days go by without working on this.
> 
> Also, I kinda hate this chapter but I can't figure out how to make it better, so you're just getting it this way.

No sooner had Ben and Rey walked back into the dining room than Leia was speaking to them. “Benjamin, please go to the reception room and call your grandfather.”

Rey was confused but Ben knew that meant she wanted him to have no part of the coming conversation, and so he kissed Rey, murmured that it was going to be alright, and left. Rey turned back to everyone after a moment. “What’s going on?”

“The five of us need to talk,” Padmé said, motioning towards Rey’s chair. “Please, sit back down and join us.”

Rey looked over at Rose and Rose nodded, so she walked back around the table to her chair. “What do we need to talk about? I think Rose made herself perfectly clear earlier.”

“Yes, well, that was before the four of us had a chance to talk,” Mara said, and Rey suddenly realized that anything could have been said in that conversation.

“I see,” she breathed out, trying to brace herself for whatever might be coming. 

“It seems that Rose was in a secret relationship with Armitage Hux for a while,” Padmé said, and Rey glanced over at Rose for a moment. 

“Is that so? I had no idea.”

“Rose’s experience in that relationship is what we believe is causing her issues with Ben,” Leia said. “So we have been trying to let her know that Ben and Armitage could not be more different.”

“I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Hux yet,” Rey said, and Mara laughed. 

“It’s not a pleasure, Rey. Not even remotely close.”

Rey looked over at Rose and she nodded. “I think I always knew that he was a bastard, but he was a charming bastard.”

Padmé laughed. “Oh yes, he’s a very charming man. He can charm practically anyone, male or female, into doing what he wanted.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s how he ended up CEO of Solo Oil after Han retired,” Mara said. “That’s Luke’s theory anyway.”

“I think you are right about that, Mara. Armitage can charm anyone,” Leia said. “Except for Ben. Ben seems to be immune to his bullshit.”

“Ben did have a lot of problems with him. We discussed them quite a bit when he was trying to make the decision to fire him or not,” Rey said, glancing over at Rose. “I think I was able to really help him see what a terrible asset to the company that he was.”

Rose’s eyes widened slightly but she didn’t give any other sign that she had figured out what the sort of help Rey had given Ben was. They’d have that discussion once it was just the two of them alone on the floor, let alone the apartment.

“One of the biggest problems with Armitage is that he is a product of only masculinity,” Mara said. “His mother died when he was a toddler and his father never remarried. There were nannies involved, I’m sure, but without that mother’s touch, he grew up to be exactly like his father.”

“That is not to say that all those who grow up raised by men are like that,” Padmé said. “But Brendol was an asshole who didn’t particularly care for Armitage and it showed.”

“Sadly, Armitage has only gotten more like Brendol since his death,” Leia added. “And it sounds like Rose came into his life right around the time that Brendol died.”

“He never mentioned his father to me at all, and since I didn’t pay any attention to who he was, I didn’t know about that,” Rose said. “My lack of paying attention to things like that only ended up getting me hurt in the long run.”

“Ah,” Rey said, it clicking in her mind. “That’s why you have a problem with the fact that he’s Ben Solo. You think I’m spending too much time concentrating on the fact that he’s just Ben.”

Rose could only nod, but before Rey could say something else, Padmé spoke. “It’s understandable that Rose had these thoughts given her experience with Armitage. He knows nothing of how to treat a woman properly, which has almost cost him his wife twice.”

“And considering the fact that he chose to begin a relationship with Rose while actively trying to get Phasma to come back to him, Rose not paying attention to the fact that he was Armitage Hux meant that she was not fully abreast of the news that she needed to be,” Leia said. “However, as we have been making it clear to Rose, you are very much aware of the fact that he’s Ben Solo and have been since the moment you met.”

“I wouldn’t say the exact moment we met, but it became pretty clear after a few minutes,” Rey said, smiling. “I’ll never forget that moment.”

Leia squealed. “Ben will never forget it either, trust me.”

Rose coughed slightly and Rey glared at her. “I just want to say that I’m sorry. I really am. But whenever I see things like what happened today, it reminds me of what happened to me, and I get angry. I may have never made it into the papers the way you have, but I still felt humiliated, and knowing that’s how you feel right now doesn’t help me have a very favorable opinion of Ben. So I’m sorry.”

Rey sighed heavily. “You think I’m not angry? I’m fucking furious. And yes, the only reason I’m in the papers is that he is Ben fucking Solo, but it’s not his fucking fault. Today is fucking Liam’s fault. Ben is doing everything he can think of to make things better for me right now, and so to hear you go off on him as though this is his fault just makes me angrier, but this time at you. And I don’t want to be angry with you, especially if you have an idea of what it’s like to be in a relationship with a high profile individual when you are someone from a simpler background like me.”

Rose laughed. “I’ve never heard completely broke described so eloquently.”

Rey giggled. “That was Leia’s way of saying it. I just borrowed it.”

Leia laughed. “Yes, I suppose it might sound rather strange to the two of you, but it was the phrasing that I was raised with.”

“Me too,” Mara said, laughing as well.

“And obviously I was or I wouldn’t have taught you to say it, Leia,” Padmé said with a smile. “I hope you don’t find it offensive.”

Rose shook her head. “No, not at all. I suppose that is what it would seem to people like you.”

“People like us are people too,” Mara reminded her. “We just have more well-known names and larger bank accounts.”

“Right,” Rose said, smiling. “And soon Rey will fall into that category as well.”

Rey nearly spat out the drink she’d just gotten. “What?” she said after forcing herself to swallow.

Rose just rolled her eyes. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t want to marry him. Do it. I know you better than that.”

Rey swallowed hard, knowing that the rest of Ben’s family was waiting on her answer. “It’s an incredibly daunting proposition and we haven’t known each other that long,” she started but Rose glared at her. “I don’t want this to end. And I will leave it at that for the moment.”

“That’s good enough for now,” Leia said, drawing their attention to her. “But Rey, I am serious when I say that Ben wants to marry you. And I’m worried that if you say no to that, then he never will marry anyone.”

Rey sat there for a moment. “I know. Believe me, I know. He brings it up enough even though I’ve asked him not to. I want to make this decision on my own and not feel forced into it.”

“Then I will have a discussion with him about that,” Leia said seriously. “I don’t want him doing something that makes you uncomfortable.”

Rey knew that she should tell Leia to stay out of it, but she also thought that if maybe it came from his mother, it might make Ben really back off. “I would appreciate that, Leia. Thank you.”

“How about you go get Ben?” Padmé said. “That way we can all say goodbye and leave the two of you alone for the evening and let you deal with this together.”

Rey nodded and stood. “That sounds nice. Thank you. Rose, can you please stay for a few moments? Ben and I wanted to talk to you about the apartment.”

“Sure,” Rose said, and Rey smiled at her. 

“I’ll be right back then.”

Rey left the dining room and headed in the direction of the reception room. She hadn’t even known to call it a reception room before that afternoon. She’d just had all her old shit put in it and was living there. 

Ben was laying on the sofa with his eyes closed, and he looked so peaceful Rey didn’t want to disturb him. She stood there watching him for a few moments, her mind going back to the conversation in the dining room. She knew she didn’t want this to end but did that mean she wanted to marry Ben? 

She wasn’t sure and she knew that was contradictory in some ways. Not wanting it to end meant that it would naturally lead to marriage and children and the family she’d craved since she was a kid. But marrying Ben was entirely different than marrying a guy she met in a bar. 

“Are you going to just stand there, baby?” Ben suddenly asked, and Rey laughed. 

“What, I can’t watch you? You’re always watching me when I wake up.”

Ben opened his eyes fully and smiled. “That’s because you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Rey felt her cheeks warm. “Get up. Everyone’s leaving and they want to say goodbye.”

Ben stood up and stretched. “That sofa is comfortable.” 

“I’ll have to try it out sometime then,” Rey said. “Come kiss me.”

Ben walked over to her and pulled her into a sweet kiss. “I’m going to guess that you want to spend the night here tonight?”

Rey nodded and Ben continued. “Then I will head home after they leave.”

Rey shook her head. “I don’t want to be alone.”

Ben nodded. “Then I’ll stay. But I am going to have to at least go home and get fresh clothes for tomorrow.”

“Bring some over here,” Rey breathed out. “That way you can stay here sometimes and not have to do that.”

“I thought you wanted this space to get away from me for a while.”

“I do but that doesn’t mean that I can’t want you here sometimes too.”

Ben kissed Rey again. “Then I’ll bring more clothes than for just a night with me when I come back.”

Rey smiled. “Then let’s go say goodbye to everyone. I told Rose to stay so we could talk to her about the apartment for a moment.”

“Hopefully she’ll be more open to it after your conversation.”

“Did you listen in?” Rey asked as they walked towards the dining room. 

“No, I did not, but with Mama in charge, I can imagine how it went,” Ben laughed. “I am sure that things were resolved.”

“I hope that they were because if we have to go through this again, I’m going to scream.”

Leia, Padmé, and Mara had collected their things by the time they made it back to the dining room, and then hugs and kisses went around before they all left, promising to call and check on both of them the next day. When it was just Rey, Ben, and Rose, they sat down in the living room and Rey took a deep breath before speaking. “Rose, we would like to know what needs to happen to get you and Finn moved into the apartment by tomorrow night. Do we need to furnish it the way that happened with my place today? Because that can be arranged.”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “You would do that?”

“Of course,” Ben said, smiling at her. “Pick out whatever you want and I’ll make sure it’s there by tomorrow night. And you won’t ever see a bill for anything regarding the apartment either. It’s all on me.”

Rose took a couple of deep breaths. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you at dinner. I’m amazed that you’d still want to do this for me and Finn after that.”

“I would do anything to help Rey’s friends,” Ben said seriously. “You two were all she had before I came into her life and I appreciate you beyond belief for that.”

Rey smiled. “I told you he wasn’t how you thought he was.”

“It was just my past with Armitage coming through,” Rose said. “I suppose Ben knows all about that.”

“I only know that something happened between you and Hux and Rey wanted me to explore whether or not him working for Solo Oil was a good idea, which after some deliberation, I came to the conclusion that he wasn’t.”

Rose let out a small laugh. “You fired him because she asked you to. You can just say it.”

“Maybe,” Ben said with a smile. “Whatever it is that happened between you two, it shouldn’t have. If I can help make your life easier because of it, then I want to help do that.’

Rose took a deep breath and nodded. “Tell me what the website is and Finn and I will pick stuff out. I’m not making those decisions without him. I’ll also make sure we have enough packed so the moving company can move some of our stuff tomorrow afternoon.”

Rey grinned and Ben reached for his phone. “Let me bring up the times that my secretary sent for the moving company then.”

They confirmed a time for the moving company and then Rose left, and once she was gone, Rey fell into Ben’s arms. “Please take my mind off of all this.”

Ben drew her into a kiss and then smiled. “I need to go get clothes.”

“Fuck your clothes. Fuck me instead,” Rey said, kissing Ben deeply. “You can get them afterward.”

Ben laughed. “Do you honestly think that once we go to bed, I’m going to get up again? You know me better than that.”

Rey groaned and buried her head in Ben’s neck. “I know you’re right but I need you more.”

Ben stood there with her for a moment before coming up with an idea. “Come here.”

He took Rey by the hand and led her into the reception room, stopping next to the sofa and kissing her deeply. “Are you being a good girl and wearing panties today?”

Rey felt a shiver go down her spine at the tone of Ben’s voice. “Yes, Mr. Solo. I had an important work event today.”

“I’m so sorry that you weren’t able to be part of that, baby,” Ben said, letting his hands move underneath Rey’s skirt. “I quite like this skirt on you. You look amazing today.”

Rey gasped as Ben stroked her through her panties, smiling when Ben let out a small laugh. “What’s so funny, Mr. Solo?”

“Your panties are soaked, my love,” Ben said, kissing Rey’s neck. “How long have you been like this?”

“Since we were laying together on the bed,” Rey said, gasping when Ben pulled her panties to the side and ran his thumb up and down her folds.

Ben grinned. “So someone is in the mood to be adventurous tonight then?”

“I know it sounds insane,” Rey said, moaning when a finger slipped into her. “But ever since you asked me if I liked being tied up on the phone, it’s kind of all that I‘ve thought about.”

Ben felt himself harden instantly. “You want me to tie you up?”

Rey nodded and Ben hardened even more. “How would I do that?”

“You have many ties, Mr. Solo.”

Ben swallowed hard. “I’d never be able to wear them again without walking around hard.”

“Surely you could sacrifice a few to our cause.”

Ben pulled back and nodded. “How many?”

“One for each limb,” Rey said, grinning at him. “I did buy a four-poster bed, after all.”

“You’re killing me right now, I hope you know that.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Ben moved his hand away from her and Rey whined, but then she felt her panties be pulled down and she sighed happily. “I don’t have any condoms in here.”

“That’s alright,” Ben said, pushing her down onto the sofa. “I wasn’t planning on that.”

Rey laughed when he dropped to his knees in front of her, watching as he finished taking her panties off and tossed them behind him. “So this is what’s happening for me. What’s happening for you?”

“Whatever you want, baby,” Ben said, pushing her skirt up enough so that he could open her legs wide. “What do you want?”

Rey thought about it for a moment and smiled wickedly. “I want you to wait until you’ve tied me up.”

“Fuck, baby. Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Rey said, gasping as a finger slid into her. “Or you can take the easy way out and jerk off before you leave to get clothes. But I’m not touching you until you’re ready to tie me up.”

“Fuck,” Ben breathed out, sliding another finger into her. “I might have to go with the jerking off. I am so close right now.”

Rey laughed. “I’m getting to you that much with this idea?”

“Yeah, you are,” Ben said, kissing up Rey’s inner thigh. “But right now is not about me.”

Rey went to talk but Ben licked along her clit, and she moaned from the sensation. “Oh fuck, Mr. Solo. You feel good.”

Ben closed his lips around it and sucked, drawing a yelp from Rey, before going back to licking along her. He pulled his fingers away so he could tongue her entrance, delighting in the noises that Rey was making. He licked his way back to her clit, sliding his fingers into her again and curling them, trying to find the right spot to stroke her. He knew he found it when he heard Rey swear loudly, so he stroked her quickly as he closed his mouth around her clit and sucked. 

It wasn’t long before Rey was shaking against him, screaming out his name as she came. Ben licked at her gently until he felt her come down from the high, and then he pulled back and started up at her. “How was that?”

“Amazing,” Rey got out between breaths. “One of your best efforts yet.”

Ben grinned. “Well, I’m glad that it was appreciated.”

He stood up and tried to adjust the position his cock was in so it was slightly less painful to be that hard in those particular pants, but Rey’s hand came up to stop him. “Jerk off.”

“What?”

“Drop your pants and jerk off. Right now.”

“Rey.”

“You don’t want to come all over me? I thought you liked that.”

Ben was reaching for his belt before he knew what he was doing. “Fuck, you always look so gorgeous like that. But you’re usually undressed.”

Rey reached up and undid her shirt, letting the sides fall away. “Undressed enough for you, Mr. Solo?”

Ben shoved his pants and underwear to his ankles, straddling Rey’s hips. “You’re really serious about this?”

Rey just rolled her eyes and spit into her hand, reaching for Ben’s dick and wrapping her fingers around it. She stroked him lightly and Ben threw his head back and groaned. “Do you think I’m serious about it now? And you’re supposed to be doing this, not me.” 

Ben’s hand immediately wrapped around Rey’s, and he smiled down at her. “How about we do it together? It’s not going to take much.”

Rey nodded and let Ben set the pace, smiling as she watched him slowly come apart in front of her. She trailed the fingers of her free hand along the head of his cock, making Ben moan loudly, so she did it again and then Ben was coming. Ben forced himself to keep his eyes open as he watched the white stripes land all over Rey’s chest, wanting nothing more than to plunge himself into her and fuck her until he was spent again like they usually did.

But neither of them had a condom, and Rey had made it very clear that despite the fact that she was on birth control, she wasn’t ready for them to not use them. 

“Fuck, baby,” Ben said, moving off of her and collapsing onto the sofa next to her. 

Rey just laughed next to him. “How do I look?”

“Fucking amazing,” Ben said. “All I want to do right now is fuck you till we’re both coming again.”

“That’s all I want too, but we don’t have any condoms,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Besides, I believe that I told you that I didn’t want you to fuck me until I was tied up. And for that, you need to go get ties.”

Ben nodded and closed his eyes. “I need a little bit of time before I can manage to do that.”

“I know,” Rey said, closing her eyes too. “But that was incredible. A nice way to break in the sofa. We have a lot of new places to break in now.”

“Fuck, I haven’t even seen most of the apartment,” Ben said, looking over at her. “Did you furnish every room?”

Rey nodded her head. “Every single one of them.”

“So I take it we’re staying here for a while so we can break everything in because there’s no way we’ll be able to do all of that tonight.”

“I told you, I’m not leaving this apartment for a while. So if you want to have sex, you’re going to have to come to me.”

“That’s not the only reason I want to see you, you know.”

Rey leaned over and kissed him deeply. “I know. And it’s not the only reason I want to see you either.” 

“Good,” Ben said, taking a deep breath before forcing himself to stand. “I’m going to go make myself presentable enough to go to the penthouse and get some things. You be ready for me when I get back, okay? I’m going to need to fuck you so badly that I can’t promise you that you’ll be tied up for the first round.”

“I’ll decide if that’s acceptable while you’re gone then,” Rey said, laughing when Ben groaned. 

“But, baby…”

“The more you complain, the less acceptable it’ll be.”

“Fine, fine.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long. it just wasn't working and I still don't think it does, but hey, here it is.

Ben pulled the car up in front of the Arts Unleashed building and Rey took a deep breath. “You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready, baby.”

“No, I need to,” Rey murmured, looking out the window.

“It’s only been a day,” Ben pointed out. “Zorii told you to take all the time that you need.”

“I have too much work to do on this project that I need to collaborate with Beaumont on. I can’t sit in my apartment anymore.” Rey took another deep breath. “I can do this.”

“You can do anything, baby,” Ben said, reaching across the console to tangle his fingers together with hers. “But I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“There is no possible way that this won’t be uncomfortable, whether I go back today or in twelve weeks,” Rey responded, looking over at him. “The sooner I get back to my normal routine, the better I think I’m going to feel.”

“Then get in there and kill it,” Ben said, smiling at her. “I know you will because you are amazing, and you’re amazingly good at your job, and I know that you are better than what those articles tried to make you out to be.”

“Thank you,” Rey breathed out, and Ben leaned over and kissed her. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” Rey said, taking another deep breath before opening up the car door and getting out. 

Ben stayed there long enough to watch her walk into the building before driving away. He hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot before his phone was ringing and one look at the display in his dashboard let him know that he was not going to answer that particular phone call. He declined the call and turned onto the street, ready to sit in the traffic jam that he had clearly just driven into, when his phone rang again. 

A glance at the display this time had him answering the call. “Good morning, Mara.”

“Ben, how is Rey doing this morning? She didn’t answer when I called her.”

“Rey has just gone into work,” Ben said, settling into his seat when he realized traffic really wasn’t moving. 

“Work?” Mara said, surprised. “I thought she was going to stay home for a while.”

“So did I, but she said she has too much work to do on the MOMA project that needs to be done in person with her coworkers to stay home. She also thinks that the sooner she gets back to a normal routine, the better she will feel, which I can somewhat understand.”

“I hope she doesn’t have any trouble at work today then.”

“You and me both.”

“I was calling for another reason as well,” Mara said. “Luke and I were wondering if you and Rey would join us for dinner tomorrow.”

Ben sighed. “I will not be forced into the same room as my father, Mara.”

“I know, and that is not what I’m asking you to do,” Mara said seriously. “I am asking you to join me and Luke. Only me and Luke. Not Leia, not your grandparents. Just the four of us.”

“Really?”

“I thought that a show of support from more than just the women in the family was necessary,” Mara explained. “And since you’re not speaking to your father and Anakin is far from happy about that, Luke was the natural option.”

“Grandpa’s not happy about that?” Ben sighed heavily. “Great, now Rey’s not going to be good enough for him either.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Mara said. “He’s been very pleased that you finally found someone to share your life with. I believe he’s more upset that it’s come to this with you and Han than it is he is unhappy with Rey. Though I’m sure the articles from the other day weren’t taken very well. Padmé will set him straight if it is necessary.”

“I know she would,” Ben said, turning his attention to the road when traffic crept forward a little. “I’m going to need to talk to Rey about this. She might not feel like being out in the middle of a restaurant right now.”

“I’m not talking about a restaurant,” Mara replied. “I’m talking about you two coming over to the townhouse and joining us for dinner.”

“Well, that’s certainly more appealing than a restaurant,” Ben said, glancing at the clock. “I’ll talk to Rey about it and then let you know by lunch. But I need to go. I’ve got to start working.”

“I’ll talk to you later then,” Mara said, and Ben hung up. 

He reached for his phone and typed out a quick message to Rey with Mara’s invitation, told her that they didn’t have to go if she didn’t want to and that he loved her and hoped the day went well. Then he called Josephine so he could inform her that he would be missing his first meeting because of the traffic and asked her to bring him up to speed on his schedule for the rest of the day. 

By the time he got to work, he’d read through three different proposals for changes to their overnight shipping services and he had a response from Rey. 

_Sounds nice. Mara said Luke can’t wait to meet me._

After confirming that she was sure on the elevator ride up to his office, the first thing Ben asked Josephine to do was confirm his dinner plans for the next day with Luke and Mara. Then he walked into his office, grabbed his laptop, and headed towards his first meeting, hoping that Rey’s day was going well.

**********

Rey’s day had been... okay.

She’d been most nervous about Beaumont because he was the one who she worked closest with, but he had been very sympathetic. He hated it when Zorii had to go through something similar and so if there was anything he could do to help, even if it was only listening to her bitch about the things that the papers got away with printing, then to just ask. Rey had been very appreciative of his offer, but she knew that she’d never take him up on it. She’d become very friendly with Beaumont over the last few months, but he wasn’t someone that Rey could ever see herself confiding in.

When she hadn’t been working with Beaumont and the rest of the team, Rey had been in her office with the door closed, trying to work on ideas for the new project Zorii had told her about for the Academy of Arts & Letters in Brooklyn. It was going to be the first project that Rey was spearheading on her own and she was terrified about it. But having a new project to work on was going to give her a chance to prove to everyone that she did belong there and that she hadn’t just been hired to cover something up.

Zorii assured her that wasn’t the case, but this was Rey’s chance to prove it.

She texted with Rose off and on throughout the day, happy to know that she and Finn were thrilled with how everything in the apartment looked and couldn’t wait to move in fully. The four of them had had dinner together the night before and from their interactions and Finn’s like of Ben, Rey was certain that all of the stuff with Rose was behind them now. 

Or at least she hoped.

By the time that the day was done, Rey was glad that she’d gone into work. She felt better than she had sitting around her apartment the day before, and the lack of comment from anyone helped a lot. She was sure that all of them had some sort of different opinion of her now, but none had openly expressed that to her. Knowing that there were some who thought she was into all of that kinky stuff only made her determination to prove that she belonged there stronger. 

She was going to show them that she might be into some kinky stuff but that she was motherfucking good at her job and they better respect her for it.

She walked out of the building just in time for a white Jaguar to pull up in front of the building, and when the window rolled down and she could see it was Ben, she just shook her head. “Where is your car and what is this?”

“This is my new car,” Ben said, getting out and walking around to the other side, opening the door for her. “May I give you a ride home, Mademoiselle?”

A couple of the other women who worked in the office came out of the building and commented on how sweet it was that Ben was opening the car door for Rey, and she decided to get in the car and get out of there before any more encounters like that could happen. 

Once Ben was driving out of the parking lot, Rey shook her head and turned to him. “Ben, this morning you had a black sedan and now you have a white Jaguar. Explain.”

“I felt like buying a new car.”

“Ben.”

“I’m not lying. I felt like buying a new car.”

“Ben.”

Ben sat there for a moment before sighing. “Alright, so maybe I’ve always wanted one of these, and maybe my father constantly told me they were a waste of money, and maybe he’s right. But I don’t care and I’m not going to let him rule my life anymore, so I left work early and went and bought one.”

Rey just shook her head. “When I wanted to let my grandfather know that he didn’t rule my life, I used to paint my nails black, wear too much makeup, and wear the sexiest clothes I owned. And here you are, spiting your father by buying a motherfucking Jaguar.”

Ben laughed. “I kind of want to see you like that now.”

“You’re missing my point.”

“Which is?”

“We are from two entirely different worlds, Ben. And while I have started to be accustomed to yours, I think that you have absolutely no idea about mine.”

“Then teach me.”

Rey looked over at him. “What?”

“Teach me. Show me your world.”

“You’d be willing to do that?”

Ben nodded. “You’re right. I know nothing about your world. I know nothing about the world of a normal person. So teach me.”

“Well, if that’s the case,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Thanksgiving is coming up next month.”

“Right. I need to figure out what we’re going to do about that because I am not spending it with my family since my father would be there.”

“I usually spend the day with Finn and Rose,” Rey continued. “We go down to one of the homeless shelters and help hand out Thanksgiving dinner to them. It’s not a holiday that I have any attachment to and Finn and Rose just don’t care about a day that has been commercialized into being about a turkey and a parade.”

“So you want us to spend the day with Finn and Rose.”

“Yes,” Rey said. “And I want you to come to the homeless shelter with us.”

“What do you usually do to eat?” Ben asked after a moment. “It sounds like you’re not home to cook.”

“Honestly? We go to Denny’s and eat their turkey dinner,” Rey replied. “And don’t think I didn’t notice that you skipped right over the other part of this.”

“Denny’s?”

“It’s a nationwide diner chain. It’s kinda terrible, really, but their turkey dinner is pretty good,” Rey said. “Going there would be part of this also.”

Ben was quiet for a few minutes. “And if I say no to this?”

“Then you’ll be spending the day alone,” Rey said simply. 

“You wouldn’t have gone with me to my grandparents’, would you?”

“Nope,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I just figured that was a conversation to have once we were in November.”

“I’m not sure I have appropriate clothes to go to a homeless shelter and a diner.”

Rey smiled. “That can be very easily rectified, Ben.”

“My family is not going to like this.”

“You volunteering on Thanksgiving is going to be looked down upon?” Rey said with a frown.

“I think they’d just find that there are better ways for me to contribute,” Ben said carefully, and Rey just shook her head.

“There is no one who needs help more than those who don’t even have a home, Ben.”

“Rey, that’s not what I meant,” Ben said seriously. “Obviously it’s a worthy cause. I’m just saying that my family’s idea of charitable work is giving millions of dollars to a hospital who then names their new wing after the Skywalkers or the Solos. None of us ever get this hands-on.”

“Then maybe it’s time to.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Really?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah. I’d rather spend the day with you than anyone else, and if part of that is helping to feed the homeless and then going to a diner, then that means I’ll do that.”

“That’s great,” Rey said, grinning. 

Ben smiled back. “Since I am doing this for you, may I ask if you will consider doing something for me? If you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Halloween is next week and there is a high society masquerade ball that is occurring that night. I need to attend it and I would like you to attend it with me. But as I said, if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

“Ben, I have nothing to wear to a high society masquerade ball.”

“And as you said to me, that can be easily rectified.”

Rey leaned back in her seat and sighed. “Can I think about it for a while?”

“Yes,” Ben said, looking at her when he brought the car to a stop in traffic. “But I’ll need your answer by Monday so that we can make sure you have something proper to wear.”

Rey sighed. “And how am I supposed to know what that is?”

“Mama will know,” Ben replied. “I’ll arrange a girls’ shopping trip for you, Grandma, and Mara. Rose can come along too if you want. And it’ll all be on me.”

“Because if I go shopping with them I can’t pay for it myself.”

“Right,” Ben said. “And there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I know,” Rey said softly. “I just hate how much money you’re spending on me.”

“You’re worth every penny of it,” Ben murmured. “And I consider all that I have to be yours anyway. You can spend it however you want.”

Rey closed her eyes and sucked in several deep breaths. “Ben, you are worth more than a billion dollars.”

“I know,” Ben said carefully. “And I know that’s probably overwhelming.”

“It’s overwhelming as fuck!” Rey exclaimed. “You tell me all the time that you want to marry me and now you’re telling me that all that money is also mine and I can do what I want with it! Ben, I need you to remember where the fuck I was in my life eight months ago, okay? I need you to fucking remember that.”

“I do remember that, but I need you to realize that you’re not there anymore!” Ben countered back. “You are not in that position anymore, and even if you decided that you don’t want this anymore, it’s not like you’d have to go back to that. But you are not living that life anymore!”

Rey clenched her hands into fists. “This is going to be such a fucking problem. We are never going to be able to deal with the fact that we come from two different worlds.”

“Yes, we are, and we do that by doing things like you going to the masquerade ball with me and me going to the homeless shelter and diner with you. That’s how we learn more about the worlds we were born into and how we can then incorporate parts of both of them into our relationship.”

“You don’t want to incorporate anything about my life before you into our relationship.”

Ben sighed heavily. “Give me a chance to. We can start doing things that you used to do. Like stop at a Starbucks on our way to work like I know you want to do.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “You hate Starbucks because it’s not that expensive as fuck coffee that you make at home.”

“I have not given it a fair chance,” Ben said. “I am willing to do so. And at the worst, I will just not order anything when we go.”

Rey sat there for a moment before looking over at him. “You’re being serious about this, aren’t you?”

Ben nodded. “I want to make you comfortable with everything, Rey. I don’t want you to feel like you have to just completely give up everything for me.”

Rey reached over and put her hand on Ben’s knee, squeezing it gently. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“You’re welcome,” Ben said, smiling at her. “Now, what do you want to do tonight?”

“I want to go to bed,” Rey said. “Today was a very trying day.”

“Then we’ll get some sleep early tonight.”

“I didn’t say anything about sleep, Ben.”

Ben grinned. “Mine or yours?”

“Yours,” Rey said, settling back against the seat. “And hurry, Mr. Solo.”

“Yes, ma’am.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, I'm sorry this took so long. my brain decided I needed a few days off from writing, and then I tried to figure out how to fit all of this into one chapter, and then I realized I couldn't, so I split it into two chapters so this is part one of dinner at Luke and Mara's and the next chapter will have part two. hope you enjoy.

Luke Skywalker was the CEO of Skywalker International, making him Ben’s boss as well as his uncle. He was grooming Ben to take over the company within the next three years, and it was incredibly clear to Rey that making a good impression on him was very, very important. If Luke liked her, then that would help with Anakin’s opinion of her, and perhaps even Han’s.

So, therefore, the thought of meeting him was terrifying.

When they got into the car to head to Luke and Mara’s for dinner, Rey felt like she might be sick. She was probably going to end up in another swanky penthouse like Ben’s, surrounded by stuff that she would be afraid to even touch. Dinner was probably going to be food that Rey wouldn’t know what it was, to be eaten with a utensil that Rey wouldn’t know to use. 

She was desperately afraid of making a fool of herself.

No matter how much Ben had promised to be right next to her side the entire night, Rey was very, very, very nervous.

“Baby,” Ben said softly, and Rey snapped herself out of her thoughts. 

“I’m fine,” she said weakly, and Ben reached over and put his hand on her knee. 

“Take a deep breath and calm down,” he said, smiling at her. “It’s just Luke and Mara.”

“Exactly, it’s Luke and Mara,” Rey said, forcing herself to take a couple of deep breaths. “I’m terrified.”

“Rey, there is nothing to be terrified about,” Ben said seriously. “Mara already loves you and Luke will do the same.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Rey said quietly, dropping her eyes to her hands so that Ben couldn’t see her.

Ben sighed and reached across the console, pulling Rey as much into his arms as he could. “Luke is going to love you. He’s not going to be an asshole like my father. I promise.”

“You can’t promise me that.”

“Yes, I can. You’ve never met Luke. I have.”

Rey settled her head onto Ben’s shoulder and sighed. “He’s such an important person to you, Ben. I don’t want him to look down upon your life choices.”

Ben laughed. “I promise you that he already did that before you came into my life. He’s wanted me to settle down for a long time. But he also understands that sometimes it takes some time. My parents got married when my mother was twenty-three. Luke and Mara didn’t get married until Luke was thirty-two. He’s just happy that I finally found you, baby. He can’t wait to meet you because of that.”

“Ben, what if he doesn’t like me?” Rey asked seriously. “You can say he will all you want, but I didn’t think your father would have such a reaction to me and he did.”

“My father is a lousy motherfucker,” Ben said firmly. “Luke is way more laid-back. He thinks that all of my father’s bullshit rules are fucking stupid, even though he knew that he had similar ones when he was looking for a wife. But I think Luke also knows deep down that if he’d fallen in love with a woman who wasn’t from the high society that my grandparents would have been just as happy as they were when he fell in love with Mara. You don’t have to worry about Luke acting like my father. 

“And I can’t imagine how he wouldn’t like you. Mara is usually the one to worry about out of the two of them when it comes to meeting my girlfriends. She absolutely adores you after the other day though. The way you handled everything with such grace and class gave her the impression that you can handle all of what being with me comes with. And that’s such an important thing for my wife to have. None of the others ever had it. They never won over Mara, even after years. But you did it in one afternoon.”

Rey took a shaky breath. “Really?”

Ben brushed a kiss along her hair. “Yes, baby. I promise.”

Rey took three deep breaths and then sat up. “Then I suppose we shouldn’t be late for dinner.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s not that far from here,” Ben said, turning the key and starting the car. “Just sit back and relax until we get there, okay? You need to just calm down. Nothing horrible is going to happen tonight.”

Rey settled back against the seat while Ben drove towards the parking garage’s exit, but once they were there, he turned in the opposite direction of Fifth Avenue. “Where are you going?”

“To Luke and Mara’s.”

“Shouldn’t you be going the other way?”

Ben chuckled. “Exactly where are you expecting them to live?”

“Some penthouse that’s fancier than yours,” Rey said, making Ben laugh fully.

“Oh, no, Rey. They don’t live in a penthouse. They don’t even live in a building like yours or mine.”

Rey gave him a confused look. “Then where do they live?”

“They live in a townhouse over on Sixty-Third,” Ben said, smiling at her. “An incredibly large, expensive townhouse, but a townhouse.”

Rey felt a little bit of the tension in her chest release. “An incredibly large, expensive townhouse.”

Ben nodded. “They bought it a few years ago for about forty million.”

Rey swallowed hard. “A forty million dollar townhouse?”

“I told you, it’s incredibly large and expensive,” Ben said, reaching over to squeeze her knee again. “Baby, you’re going to love tonight, okay? Just trust me on that.”

“I’m trying to, but then you’re telling me that I’m going to be eating dinner in a forty million dollar townhouse.”

“You are perfectly fine eating and sleeping in my hundred and fifty million dollar penthouse,” Ben pointed out, and Rey felt faint.

“A hundred and fifty million dollar penthouse? That’s how much the penthouse cost you?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, bringing the car to a stop in traffic. “I got a great deal on it too. I’m the first owner of the place. The building was brand new when I moved in. By the time that I decide to move, I’ll make a nice profit off of it.”

Rey took four deep breaths. “I don’t want to know what you paid for the apartment I’m living in, okay? I don’t think I can handle that.”

Ben squeezed Rey’s knee again. “It’s just money, Rey.”

“Which you have a fuck ton of and I was so desperate I let you pay me so you could fuck me.”

Ben moved his hand away from her knee and sighed. “We’re going to have to move past that at some point. I thought maybe we were there.”

“It’s not going to change anything if we just stop talking about it, Ben. And I am already giving into your lifestyle so much.”

“Which is why I want you to teach me about yours,” Ben pointed out. “It’s why I’m going to a homeless shelter and a diner on Thanksgiving.”

“I know,” Rey said softly. “Still isn’t going to change anything.”

“I’d say that I wish it hadn’t happened, but it brought me you, so I’m not going to say that.”

“And I don’t want to pretend that it didn’t happen. I just don’t know how to reconcile that with everything that is happening now.”

Ben started driving again when the traffic moved. “It’s going to have to happen at some point. Our future together is never going to work if you don’t.”

“I know,” Rey breathed out. “And you’re not supposed to talk about that.”

“Right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not,” Ben said, shaking his head.

“Can we talk about something else?”

Ben pulled over before Rey could say anything else, and she looked over at the townhouse they were parked in front of. She blinked rapidly at the sight of it before reminding herself of how expensive that piece of real estate really was. Forty million dollars. Of course, it was going to be absolutely gorgeous. “How many stories is that?” was what eventually came out of her mouth, and Ben grinned.

“Five. It’s really entirely too much house for just Luke and Mara, but they fell in love with it.”

“I think your penthouse is too much for just you,” Rey said. “But this is definitely bigger than the penthouse.”

“It’s about the same size, actually,” Ben said, and that made Rey’s head spin. 

“Are you serious?”

“Rey, the penthouse has five stories. This is five stories. It’s about the same size.”

And that made Rey’s head spin even more. “The penthouse has FIVE stories?”

Ben gave her a confused look. “Did you not know that?”

“I have never just gone exploring your apartment, Ben!” Rey exclaimed. “And you have never given me a tour of it. I know there is an upstairs and downstairs and that’s it.”

Ben just shook his head. “I can’t believe I haven’t shown you the rest of the penthouse. I’ll have to rectify that the next time you come over.”

“Sure,” Rey said shakily, and Ben reached over and grabbed her hand. 

“Are you ready to get out of the car?”

Rey sat there for a moment before swallowing hard and nodding. “I’m ready.”

Ben squeezed her hand and then opened up his door, getting out of the car. Rey was still inside of it when he reached the other side, so he opened the door. “Come on, baby. I’m sure Mara has spotted us by now.”

Rey climbed out of the car and spent several moments smoothing out her skirt as Ben closed the door and locked the car. He turned to her and offered out his arm, and Rey took a deep breath before taking it. She could do this. She could totally do this.

They walked up to the door and Ben rang the bell, Rey fully expecting a servant of some kind to answer the door and usher them in. But when the door did open, Mara was on the other side, and she was dressed far more casually than Rey would have thought she’d been. “Ben, Rey, do come in. I’m so glad that you’ve agreed to join us tonight.”

“Thank you, Mara,” Ben said, walking through the door with Rey. “We’re glad to be here.”

Mara closed the door before turning to them, pulling Rey into an embrace before Rey could say a thing. “How are you doing, Rey? And be honest. Talking about things will help make it all go easier than not.”

“I’m fine,” Rey said, and it was the truth. “As fine as I’m going to be, anyway.”

“That’s good to hear, but there may be setbacks. There always are for me. You can call me whenever you need to talk, okay? Especially if you want to complain about these incredibly stubborn Skywalker men of ours.”

Ben laughed. “We’re not that bad.”

“You don’t deal with you,” Mara pointed out. “Trust me, you and Luke are exactly like Anakin in the fact that you’re stubborn as hell.”

“Ben probably can’t see that, love,” came a voice, and Rey looked up to see an older man walking towards them. “But I have learned to agree with you.”

“Luke,” Ben said, walking over to him and shaking his hand. “Thanks for having us over.”

“Of course,” Luke said, smiling at him before turning his attention to Rey. “And you must be the woman who has Ben’s head turned inside out.”

Rey gave him a nervous smile. “That’s me.”

“Luke, this is Rey,” Ben introduced. “Rey, this is my uncle Luke.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Skywalker,” Rey said, and Luke laughed.

“No Mr. Skywalker here, Rey. I’m in my house, not a boardroom. Call me Luke, please.”

Rey forced herself to nod. “Luke then.”

Mara smiled and wrapped a hand around Rey’s elbow. “How about you two go decide what we should order in while I give Rey a tour of the house?”

“Order in?” Rey asked, and Mara smiled at her. 

“Oh yes. I had a very long day and don’t feel like cooking.”

“You were going to cook us dinner?” was out of Rey’s mouth before she could stop it, and she wanted to kick herself. “Fuck, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“It’s alright, Rey. I can only imagine what you were thinking things were like around here,” Luke said.

“I’ll give you the tour,” Mara said. “You two decide where we’re ordering from and when we’re done with the tour, we can order.”

“Of course,” Ben said, and he walked away with Luke before Rey could say anything.

“Rey,” Mara said softly, “I know that you’re nervous, but there’s no reason to be.”

“Luke is so important to him,” Rey breathed out. “I don’t want him to think of me the way Han does.”

“Luke’s not going to do that,” Mara said seriously. “I’d smack him so hard he flew into Queens if he treated you the motherfucking way Han is.”

Rey chuckled at the thought. “Queens?”

“Maybe I’d go so far as to say Long Island,” Mara replied, and Rey laughed fully. “My point, Rey, is that you have nothing to worry about. Luke is already impressed with how you’re handling everything. He’s going to love you by the end of the night.”

“You don’t know that,” Rey started, but Mara shook her head. 

“Yes, I do. Luke has wanted to meet you for months now. Ben has been so much happier, so much easier to be around, because he’s finally found you. Han might be freaking out because you don’t have some prestigious last name, but Luke is just glad that Ben finally has found the person he fits with.”

“Mara.”

“Rey, I’m a very good judge of character. None of Ben’s previous girlfriends had the right character to take on the role that being with Ben requires. But you do. I could tell that within an hour of meeting you. Ben knows that he’s found the right woman and I agree. Luke knows that. So he just wants to get to know who you are. He’s not going to judge you. I’ve already done that.”

Rey swallowed hard. “It means a lot that you think that of me, but I don’t know if I can do this.”

“If you’re strong enough to handle what you just went through and then go back to work two days later, then you’re strong enough to be Ben’s wife,” Mara said, looking up before Rey could say a thing. “How about we start on the top floor and make our way down?”

Rey forced herself to take a deep breath. “Sounds good.”

Mara led Rey to an elevator and then up to the fifth floor, and then Rey became overwhelmed with information. Nine bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, ten thousand square feet. Three terraces, two reception rooms, a parlor for dancing. On and on and on until they were back on the ground floor and Mara turned to her with a smile. “What do you think?”

“It’s gorgeous,” Rey said because it was. “I’ve never been to a place like this before.”

“Not even Ben’s apartment?” Mara asked, confused. “His is similar to ours, just in a much different location.”

“I didn’t even know the penthouse had five stories until about twenty minutes ago,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I was just impressed enough that there was an upstairs. I didn’t think there would be more.”

Mara laughed. “Oh, I can only imagine the culture shock you had when you first met Ben.”

“Still have, truthfully,” Rey said. “But I’m working on that.”

“Good,” Mara said, leading Rey down a hallway. “The boys are probably in the sunroom off the kitchen with a couple of beers. Let’s go join them. What do you drink?”

“Whiskey,” Rey said without thinking.

Mara grinned. “A whiskey woman. No wonder Ben likes you.”

Rey smiled back because she’d heard that from Ben before. She was the first woman he’d ever dated that loved whiskey as much as he did. “Finding out we had that in common was something that I wasn’t expecting. Though he does like to make sure that I have champagne a lot too.”

“Well, of course. Champagne is wonderful to start off with, but there’s just something about whiskey.”

“You like whiskey too?”

“Absolutely. Luke wanted a whiskey woman the same way Ben always has. And now Ben has found his whiskey woman. Just another reason that Luke is going to love you,” Mara said, leading Rey into a kitchen that she was sure was bigger than her old apartment. “Let’s get some and grab the takeout menus because I guarantee that they haven’t spent a moment trying to decide on what we should have for dinner, and then go join them.”

Rey didn’t know what to think of what Mara had said, so she just nodded. “Sounds good.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *checks word count* how the fuck is this so long?

It took until the middle of her second glass of whiskey, but eventually, Rey’s nerves settled. Ben was sitting right next to her like he’d said he would, his arm either around her back or his hand resting on her knee, and his presence was calming. Mara was every bit as lovely as Rey remembered her being a few days before, and she couldn’t stop herself from thinking that she was going to be so happy having a woman like her as part of her family. But Luke was the one who was making Rey’s nerves melt away. 

He was incredibly kind, very generous, and somehow instinctively knew when the subject being discussed was too much for Rey to handle. Whenever the topic of conversation turned towards him and Mara being a party where Ben was missed or the dinner at Anakin and Padmé’s that Ben should have been at, Luke would steer it into something that Rey could participate in quickly without it seeming forced or rushed. He’d bring up the upcoming movie he was most looking forward to or a song that he felt that Rey would probably like once he learned who her favorite band was, and Rey grew to quickly love him for it. She’d be happy to have him as part of her family too.

And the thoughts that Luke and Mara would be part of her family were terrifying. 

Rey knew that she didn’t want things with Ben to end, but thinking about what that actually meant was another thing entirely. For things with Ben not to end, that meant that Rey would have to go to all the fancy parties and dinners and deal with the public scrutiny for the rest of her life. It would mean pledging herself to a life that at that moment she hated more than anything. It would mean a lifetime of articles in newspapers and on websites, constant references back to the shit that Liam had laid bare for the world, most likely being looked down upon by the people that surrounded her because she was from a simpler background. It would be a constant fight to prove that she belonged there, and she still wasn’t sure that she did.

No matter how they tried to publicly spin things, Ben would always be the man who frequented Resistance and Rey would always be the woman he’d bought. Rey didn’t know how to move past that.

But if she was going to spend the rest of her life with Ben, then she was going to have to.

“You two are going to be joining us for Thanksgiving at Anakin and Padmé’s right?” Luke asked, breaking Rey from her thoughts. 

“No,” Ben said sharply. “I will not go anywhere where he is.”

“Ben, he’s your father,” Mara said patiently. “And I know that you’re having a disagreement right now…”

“Disagreement? Mara, he told me to get rid of my whore!” Ben practically yelled, and that was the first Rey had heard of that.

Luke sighed heavily. “Han actually said that?”

“Yes,” Ben said bitterly. “He said a lot of other shit too that quite frankly really fucking hurt, and I don’t want Rey anywhere near him, and I sure as fuck don’t want to be anywhere near him.”

Rey reached out and tangled her fingers with his where they rested against his knee. “Ben, you can’t just not talk to him for forever.”

“The fuck I can’t,” Ben muttered. “You weren’t called the man he was ashamed to call his son.”

Mara gasped and Luke shook his head. “Fucking hell, Han.”

“Luke, this is seriously out of character for Han. What do you think is happening? It’s got to be more than Rey’s background and lineage,” Mara said, looking over at him.

“I have no idea, but I’m worried,” Luke said, turning his attention to Ben. “Have you talked with Leia about this?”

“Fuck no,” Ben said. “Every time I mention that I want to talk to her about him, she starts going on about how I need to forgive him and reconcile, and that just makes me so angry that I hang up the phone. I know that annoys the fuck out of Mama but I don’t care. I will not listen to that bullshit.”

Rey squeezed Ben’s hand and he looked over at her. “I don’t blame you for being angry with your father. I’m fucking furious now that I know he called me a whore. But you need to cherish him while he’s here because you never know when he’ll be gone.”

“Rey,” Ben started, but Rey shook her head.

“I lost my parents, Ben. I don’t want you to lose yours over something like this. I’m not worth it.”

“You’re worth the motherfucking galaxy,” Ben said strongly. “Don’t you dare think otherwise.”

Before any more could be said, Luke spoke. “So, you won’t be joining us for Thanksgiving. I understand why now. But may I ask what it is you are doing?”

Ben sighed so Rey replied instead. “Every year, my friends and I go down to the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter and help serve the women staying there Thanksgiving dinner. And then we end up at Denny’s, which is this nationwide chain of diners, to eat their turkey dinner because we haven’t been somewhere where we could cook. And this year, Ben is going to join us.”

Luke and Mara sat in silence for a moment. “You’re going to spend Thanksgiving at a homeless shelter and a diner,” Mara said carefully. “I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good idea.”

“Why?” Ben countered back. “It’s bad that I’m actually going to fucking do something instead of just buying a hospital a brand new wing?”

“It’s not about doing something more than just donating money and lending our name to a project. I think it’s great that you want to be more involved,” Luke said seriously. “I just don’t know how this is going to go over with my parents.”

“I love Grandma and Grandpa more than anything, but I don’t give a fuck what they think,” Ben said. “Rey has been thrust into my world and I want to learn more about hers. This is part of hers, so this is what I’m going to do.”

“I suppose it would make for good press,” Mara said, but Ben shook his head vigorously.

“No press, no photographers, no nothing. I am doing this as a private citizen who wants to help these people, not someone there for a photo-op that makes it look like I did something I really didn’t do. I’m probably going to be terrible at this until I get the hang of it, but I’m fucking doing it.”

“I think it will be good for Ben to experience some of the other sides of life, the simpler side as you all keep referring to it as,” Rey said, smiling. “I think it will open his eyes to what people who aren’t as privileged as he is go through.”

“Some of the stuff Rey has told me is unbelievable to me,” Ben added. “I can’t imagine living like that. Her old apartment was...something. Not a good something either.”

“I’m still convinced those stains were from where blood dripped through the ceiling from a murder in the apartment above mine,” Rey said, making Mara gasp in horror.

“Murder?”

“I didn’t live in a very great place, but I couldn’t afford somewhere better. Not with having to travel all the way to Manhattan every day for work,” Rey lied. “Besides, I only get paid so much. I don’t have shit compared to Ben.”

Which was true, Rey thought, because the millions of dollars that Ben had paid her paled in comparison to what Ben was worth. 

Ben was worth billions and he hadn’t even inherited everything yet.

“Well, that all will change once you’re married,” Mara said as Rey took a sip of her drink, causing her to nearly choke on it. “All that Ben has will also be yours. Well, after the prenup.”

“No prenup,” Ben said immediately. “It won’t be necessary.”

“Benjamin,” Luke said, shaking his head. “It’s necessary.”

“I don’t want there to be a contract between me and Rey designed for when we fucking breakup,” Ben declared. “I don’t want there to be a contract between us for anything.”

 _Except for when you’re paying me for sex_ , echoed through Rey’s mind. _You had no problem with having a contract between us then._

“I would prefer for no contracts as well,” Rey forced herself to say. “But can we please not talk about the possibility of marriage?”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Ben said apologetically. “It should have never been brought up.”

“It’s fine,” Rey said, giving him a weak smile. “I just would prefer not to think about it. It’s too daunting.”

“Well, whenever you want to talk about it, I’m here for you,” Mara said, smiling at her. “But yes, let’s change the subject. Rey, what kind of flowers do you like? You need to decorate the apartment with them. They give off such a lovely fragrance.”

Flowers Rey could talk about, so she did, and the conversation flowed for the rest of the evening. When Ben and Rey were getting ready to leave, Luke gave Rey a big hug. “I just want you to know that if you need anything, if Ben needs anything, we’re here for the two of you. Han’s words to him are completely unacceptable and I will be making sure that he knows it.”

“That’s not necessary,” Rey started to say, but Luke shook his head. 

“It’s incredibly necessary,” he said firmly. “The fuck if I am going to let him treat my beloved nephew and the woman he loves like that.”

“Well, thank you then,” Rey said, smiling at Luke before going to say goodbye to Mara. 

Ben stepped up to Luke and shook his hand. “Thanks for having us tonight.”

“You’re welcome any time,” Luke said, smiling at him. “Especially now.”

Ben sighed. “Thank you.”

“Benjamin,” Luke said, making sure he had Ben’s full attention, “Mara was right. She’s perfect for you. Don’t let your father’s words discourage you from being with the woman you love.”

“I’m not going to,” Ben said, slightly confused.

“I just want you to keep one thing in mind, alright? Because knowing you as well as I do, you’ve already bought the ring.”

Ben stood there for a moment, glanced over at Rey, and then nodded slightly. “Not a word. Not even to Mara.”

“I won’t say a thing,” Luke replied. “But I want you to keep one thing in mind, okay? She is coming into this world that is completely foreign to her. She is already paying the consequences of that when she had absolutely no preparation for how to handle this should it occur. If she is not ready to even discuss the possibility, then it means that it is not time for you to give that to her, no matter how much I know you want to.”

Ben looked over at where Mara was walking with Rey towards the door and he sighed. “I just want her to be my wife, Luke.”

“And if you’re patient with her, then she more than likely will be.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Patience. I need to be patient.”

“Yes,” Luke said, smiling at his nephew. “You will be rewarded if you’re patient.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Remind me to tell you sometime how Mara turned me down six times before she said yes.”

Ben laughed. “Really?”

Luke nodded. “Lucky number seven was it.”

“Lucky number seven,” Ben murmured, remembering Rey’s lie. “Maybe that’s what I will be.”

“Patience,” Luke said again, and Ben nodded.

“I’ll be patient. I don’t want to scare her off.”

“I know you don’t,” Luke said, motioning towards the door. “Let’s follow them before Mara’s walked her all the way out to your car.”

Ben laughed and they headed towards the door, finding Mara and Rey hugging each other once they were there. “Mara, while I appreciate that you really like Rey, you are going to need to let go of her now.”

Mara pulled back with a smile. “I have a niece, Benjamin. I’m allowed to enjoy that.”

Ben wanted to say that she’d never called any of his previous girlfriends her niece before, but he didn’t. He knew that he didn’t have Mara’s approval before. Her calling Rey her niece just solidified that he had it now.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Rey said as Ben took her hand. “I enjoyed this so much more than I thought I would.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Luke said, nodding towards the door. “Go on now. I need to place a call to my brother-in-law.”

“Luke,” Rey started, but Ben cut her off.

“Tell him he’s a motherfucking dick for me please.”

“Gladly.”

“Goodnight,” Ben said, and Rey murmured the same.

They left the house and got into the car, and once they were locked inside, Ben turned to Rey with some apprehension. “How bad was it?”

Rey laughed. “After the initial nerves went away, it was quite nice.”

“Well, you managed to do in one night what none of my previous girlfriends managed to do.”

“And what is that?”

Ben grinned at her. “You won over Luke.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Rey said quickly, but Ben shook his head. 

“I’m not lying, I promise. I wouldn’t lie about shit like this.”

“But you’ll lie about not wanting a contract between us,” was out of Rey’s mouth before she could stop it. “You were perfectly okay with having a contract between us when you were paying to fuck me.”

Ben sighed heavily. “Rey, you’ve got to move past this, or we’re never going to get anywhere.”

“I don’t know how to,” Rey admitted. “And I have no one to talk to about it because I can’t trust Rose with this. Not after everything that she’s said and done when it comes to you.”

“What about a therapist?” Ben suggested.

Rey looked at him like he was crazy. “You want me to go talk to a therapist about how you used to pay me so you could fuck me?”

“You don’t have to necessarily say it was me, you know,” Ben said. “But if you wanted to, that would be fine. Nothing you say inside that room would ever get out.”

“Because you think some random therapist wouldn’t sell you out? Come on, Ben, be realistic.”

“Some random therapist? Yes. Amilyn Holdo? No.” Ben started the car when light rain began to fall. “Fuck, let’s get home. Are you staying at the penthouse tonight?”

“Yes,” Rey said absently. “Who is Amilyn Holdo?”

“She’s a psychologist for the elite. Only the top of the top get to see her. She’s also my mother’s best friend.”

Rey let out a hollow laugh. “You want me to go talk to your mother’s best friend about the fact that I was once a sex worker and you hired me? Ben.”

“Amilyn will not tell my mother a word of it, I promise. She takes no notes of any kind so there is no paper trail. She doesn’t accept insurance so there are no guidelines in how you are coming along in your therapy that she needs to pass along to insurance companies. It’s just her at the office, no receptionist. You’ll never even run into another patient,” Ben said, pulling out into traffic. “You can trust her to keep your confidence, I promise.”

“I still don’t know how you know that.”

“Because I see her every Friday morning, I’ve told her about how I frequented Resistance, and trust me if that had been told to Mama I would have _definitely_ heard about it.”

“You told your mother’s best friend that.”

“I had to tell someone.”

“Why do you see her?” Rey asked. “If you want to tell me.”

“This bullshit with my father is the exact reason. I just cannot handle him. And then there’s all the pressure that comes with being the only heir of my generation for both the Solos and the Skywalkers. It’s a lot to handle. Add into that the loneliness that I felt even if I was refusing to admit it, and well, I need some therapy. I’m more than willing to admit that if it comes up.”

Rey thought about all of that for a moment. “She really helps you?”

“Yes.”

“She sounds like someone I definitely cannot afford.”

“I can.”

“I can’t accept that.”

“Even if it’s just part of the process that is going to get you comfortable with the future that you know you want?” Ben asked. “I’ve heard you say that you don’t want this to end, Rey. There is only one inevitable conclusion that things not ending leads to.”

Rey sat there silently while Ben drove, thinking about everything. By the time Ben was pulling into his parking spot, she’d made a decision. “You’ll really pay for this?”

“Absolutely.”

“Because I have a lot of shit to work through that has nothing to do with you. We could be talking years of this. That’s a lot of money.”

Ben let out a small laugh. “Rey, you seeing Amilyn is not going to bankrupt me. It’s fine.”

Rey took a deep breath. “Then I’ll go to one appointment and see if I like her. If I don’t, I’m not going back.”

“I think that’s more than reasonable,” Ben said, smiling at her. “I’ll get it all set up tomorrow, okay? Would you want it to be on the weekend since you’re so busy at work?”

“She can do weekends?”

“All day Saturday and then Sunday mornings as well.”

“Then yes, a weekend would be great.”

“I’ll get it all arranged,” Ben said. “Ready to go up to the penthouse?”

“Yes,” Rey said, reaching for the car door. 

Once they were in the elevator and on their way up to the penthouse, Ben gave Rey a bright smile. “I am going to give you a tour of the penthouse.”

“That sounds nice, but does it have to be tonight?”

“Well, I was going to try to make you come in every room I showed you, but if you’re not interested…”

“What?”

“There is something on television, maybe,” Ben mused. “Or maybe we can find something to watch on one of the nine gazillion streaming services I pay for.”

“Ben.”

“What?”

“I want the tour.”

Ben grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, I didn't realize it had been so many days since I updated this. my apologies.

Rey groaned as Ben slammed her up against the shower wall, the groan fading into a sigh as the coolness of the tile penetrated the warm and heavy haze that surrounded them. She felt Ben's lips licking and sucking along the back of her neck as his hands slid down her sides, trembling violently when they curled around her inner thighs. She rested her forehead against the tile as he parted her legs, Ben continuing to attack the back of her neck. A finger suddenly slid inside her, drawing a long, deep moan from Rey's lips, and after a few thrusts, a second finger joined the first. 

Rey gasped and worked her hand between her body and the wall, finding her clit with her fingers and stroking it. “Do it,“ she whispered and Ben growled, the fingers disappearing and his massive cock taking their place.

Rey shuddered and Ben began to pull out, slamming back in quickly and setting a hard and fast pace. She cried out and quickened the massage of her clit, throwing her head back as her body took the fucking and begged for more. She tilted her head towards Ben's and gave voice to that need, pleading softly with him. “Harder,“ she breathed out. “Please.“

“As you wish, my love,“ Ben said, and then he was thrusting harder. 

Rey gasped as Ben's hands slid around her waist, moving her hand to the side and taking over massaging her clit. Ben's head leaned slightly to the side and rested against Rey's for a moment, then turned sharply and their lips were together in a sloppy kiss, tongues tangling, teeth nipping. They kissed until Ben stopped mid-thrust as his climax hit him. He broke the kiss and gasped for breath, slumping down against Rey's back as she writhed against him, desperate for release. 

After a few moments, Ben started moving his fingers again and massaged her clit furiously, and then Rey was coming hard, Ben's name a breathy moan on her lips. She pressed forward against the wall as Ben's lips moved across her neck, hissing as they grazed over a sensitive spot. “Mmmm,“ she managed, blinking a few times before Ben's eyes came into view. “That was amazing.“

“You're amazing,“ Ben whispered, capturing Rey's lips with his own. “I'm looking forward to tonight.“

Rey laughed slightly, shuddering as Ben pulled out of her. “I'm terrified about tonight. Utterly terrified.“

“There is no reason to be terrified, baby,“ Ben mumbled, reaching behind him to make sure the water was still warm before hooking an arm around Rey's waist and pulling her back under the spray. “You have plenty to talk to the people at the ball about.“

“Actually,“ Rey murmured, bringing her hands up to run over her face, “I have plenty to be terrified about.”

“I don’t understand what that is supposed to mean.”

“It means that your mother told me more about how this ball is going to be than you certainly have.”

“I still don’t understand what that is supposed to mean.”

“When exactly were you going to tell me that we’ll be choosing papers with numbers on them and then paired up for the evening with whoever has our matching number?” Rey asked seriously. “Because it doesn’t fucking matter if you think that’s normal or not. It means that my night is going to be spent with someone other than you and I’m terrified about it.”

Ben sighed heavily. “Seriously? I thought you understood what a masquerade ball was.”

“How the fuck would I have understood that?” Rey exclaimed. “I thought I was going to have to come up with some sort of costume to wear until your grandmother told me we were going shopping for a fucking evening gown.”

Ben reached for Rey’s shampoo and poured some into his hand, bringing it up to her hair and beginning to gently massage into it. “I am being honest when I say that I thought that you understood what a masquerade ball would be. I realize now that it was a serious error on my part to have thought that and I offer up my apologies.”

“It’s alright, Ben,” Rey murmured, letting her eyes close at the gentle strokes of his fingers along her scalp. “But, as I said, I have plenty to be terrified about.”

“You are more than capable of carrying on a conversation with anyone that you meet at this ball,” Ben said firmly. “You have an amazing job that you’re more than passionate about, you have all the confidence in the world when it comes to it, and most people in the high society are more normal than you think.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “Normal. Sure.”

“Alright, maybe normal is the wrong word. Down to earth, maybe? I use both Poe and Zorii and my family as examples of that. High society? No doubt. But are we complete and total snobs who just want to shun everyone who doesn’t have a particular last name? No.”

“No, that’s your father,” Rey replied, “and Leia told me that he’s going to be at this ball with her.”

“Of course he is,” Ben muttered to himself before raising his voice. “There’s nothing I can do about that, and this is something that I absolutely have to attend. It’s already been a big enough deal that I skipped out on it the last two years because I didn’t have anyone to bring to it and I wasn’t about to do that with some random woman from Resistance. I certainly can’t skip out on it now that I do have a woman to bring along with me. Besides, there are lots of people that want to meet you.”

“They want to judge me, you mean,” Rey said, “just like Han has. And when they reach the same conclusion about me that he has, and you start to realize that having me in your life is more trouble than it’s worth…”

Ben cut her off. “If there are people that I know who treat you like you don’t belong, then fuck them. They will no longer be a part of my life. However, I want you to be a part of my life for the rest of it. It’s really that simple.”

“Ben.”

“I can’t even make a point in that manner now?” Ben asked. “Because I really needed to make that point.”

Rey sighed when Ben pulled his hands from her hair, ducking her head under the spray and washing it clean. By the time that she was done and had turned back to Ben, he’d taken care of the condom he’d used and was massaging shampoo into his own hair. “Ben, we have talked about how I am not ready to even think about the inevitable if this relationship were to never end. And yet, time and time again, you are constantly bringing it up. How many times must I tell you that I am not ready to have a conversation about this?”

“You’re acting like I just asked you to marry me,” Ben pointed out. “I didn’t do that.”

“I’ll concede that point.”

“All I was trying to do was say that anyone who has a problem with you is someone that I don’t need in my life, and I don’t care how much my mother will try to make me and my father speak at this ball tonight, it’s not going to happen unless he wants to tell me that he accepts your presence in my life and wants to get to know you. That’s it.”

Ben tilted his head underneath the spray and rinsed his hair, and when he pulled back, he found himself being kissed deeply. “What was that for?”

Rey smiled at him and reached for the body wash. “It was for how much you love me even though I am not worth it.”

“You are worth the fucking universe,” Ben said strongly. “Don’t ever think otherwise.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” Rey said, shaking her head as Ben tried to snatch the body wash away from her. “Separate today, Ben.”

“And why is that?”

“Because we have to be at this ball in two and a half hours, it’s going to take me at least an hour of that to get ready and that’s with Rose coming over to help, and then it’ll take us time to get there. We can’t spend any more time in the shower than we already have, and if we start running our hands all over each other’s bodies, then I’ll be pressed up against the wall with you fucking me again, and we simply don’t have time for that.”

Ben sighed but nodded. “Fine.”

“When we get home,” Rey said, leaning in to kiss him again, “we can fuck all night. I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“I’m counting on it.”

**********

In the car on the way to the mansion where the ball was being held, Ben had explained to Rey what would be happening. By the time that Mitaka had pulled up in front of the front door, Rey felt like she knew what to expect and that she was in over her head at the same time. Still, she let Ben help her put her elaborate mask on, got out of the car, and walked towards the door feeling like an absolute fraud. People like her did not belong in places like this.

Except maybe she did.

They each drew a number after handing the staff members their coats, and then Ben led her through a doorway and into one of the largest rooms Rey had ever been in. Men and women wearing masks were everywhere in their finest attire, and Rey at least felt like she belonged from that perspective. The dress that Leia, Padmé, and Mara had helped her pick out was stunning, and based upon Ben’s reaction when he saw her in it, she looked pretty fucking sexy in it too. The peacock blue color of the dress was echoed in the peacock motif of the mask that Mara had found to complement it. Rey had been worried that the mask was a bit too much, but from looking around the room, it seemed to be one of the plainer ones.

Well, at least it didn’t make it seem like she was trying too hard to impress people, even though she knew deep down that she was. She wanted to impress the hell out of everyone in that room, wanted to make sure they knew that Ben’s choice for a partner was better than they thought just because of their judgments of her last name and lineage. She wanted to prove that she should be there. 

She was terribly worried that she wouldn’t.

Rey went through three glasses of champagne before the call went out to head to the room number that matched the number on their papers. She walked with Ben down a hallway, came to a stop outside the room that was designated to be hers, and then he kissed her deeply. “You are going to do great, baby,” Ben said quietly. “I promise you that.”

“You can’t promise me that,” Rey said shakily.

“Yes, I can,” Ben said, squeezing her hands. “Trust me.”

And then Ben walked away without letting Rey say another thing.

After silently cursing him, Rey entered the room to find there was a man already standing inside of it, and she smiled nervously when he turned to face her. “Good evening,” the man said, and he held out a glass of champagne towards her. 

“Good evening,” Rey forced herself to say, taking the champagne and murmuring thanks. 

“How are you enjoying the party so far?” the man asked. “I’ve found it to be one of the tamer affairs in recent years. Rather boring.”

Rey swallowed hard. “I’ve found it rather nervewracking, to be honest,” she said before she could think. “I’ve never been to this before.”

The man chuckled. “Ah, a newbie. No wonder you seem so nervous. Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

Rey laughed and the man smiled. “I promise you that we’ll be having a good time together tonight,” he said. “What name am I supposed to call you for the evening?”

“Rose,” Rey said, remembering that she was supposed to offer up a fake name. “And you?”

“You can call me Henry,” the man said, holding out his arm to her. “Shall we return to the parlor and enjoy the evening?”

Rey took a long sip of the champagne and then nodded. “Sounds great, Henry.”

Rey’s nerves melted away as the evening went on. Henry was incredibly charming and talking to him was easy. He was very interested in her work at Arts Unleashed and offered up a few observations that she was going to take under serious consideration before her next meeting with Beaumont and the team. Rey learned that he was retired from the family business and enjoyed spending his time with his wife and her family since he didn’t have any more of his own. Rey mentioned some unfavorable media attention without thinking, but Henry told her that he’d seen that happen a lot with his son over the years and that she just needed to fight through it. It was an incredibly enjoyable evening.

And then came the call to take off their masks.

Rey reached up and took hers off at the same time Henry took off his, and then they were staring at who each other really was and she didn’t know what to think about it.

“Mr. Solo,” Rey said warily.

“Ms. Palpatine,” Han replied before coughing. “I hope you enjoyed your evening.”

“I did,” Rey said, trying to smile and failing. “Thank you for it.”

“I need to find my wife,” Han said, looking around. “Tell my son I said hello.”

Han walked off before Rey could say a word, and she sucked in several deep breaths before heading in the direction of the spot where she and Ben had agreed that they’d meet. She grabbed a glass of champagne off a waiter’s tray as she passed, and she’d drunk the whole thing by the time that she got there. Ben was waiting once she did, and he pulled her into his arms. “How did it go?”

“Fine,” Rey said shakily, and Ben tightened his arms around her. 

“It certainly doesn’t sound like it went fine.”

“I just wasn’t expecting him to be who he was, that’s all.”

Ben gave her a confused look. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Rey took a couple of deep breaths. “It means that your father says hello.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “You spent the evening with my father?”

Rey nodded. “He was lovely. And he seemed to really enjoy my company. Then we took our masks off and...I don’t know what to think.”

“I’ll call Mama tomorrow and tell her what he treated you like once he saw it was you,” Ben said, incensed. “She’ll curse him out for it.”

“No, no, he was perfectly cordial,” Rey said, shaking her head. “Nothing worth cursing him out over. I just don’t know what to think about the fact that it was him.”

Ben pulled his phone from his pocket to check it. “Mitaka has arrived. Are you ready to leave?”

Rey nodded and Ben held out his arm to her. They made their way to the entryway and staff members retrieved their coats. As they walked down the steps towards where Mitaka was waiting with the car, Rey looked to her right to see Han watching them intently. She gave him a small wave out of instinct, and he stood there for a moment before nodding his head and turning his attention to Leia. 

She recounted the entire evening to Ben on the drive back to the penthouse, but once they were inside, she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I believe I promised you that we would be occupied for the rest of the night, and I intend on making good on that promise.”

“Baby, I want to talk about the fact that you spent the evening with my father,” Ben said seriously.

“We did talk about it,” Rey countered back, “for the entire ride home. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“But Rey…”

“I am going to go figure out some way to get out of this dress, even if that means destroying it, and then I’m getting into bed,” Rey said, walking away from him. “And I’ll be naked. But if you don’t want anything to do with that, find another room to sleep in.”

Rey had barely made it to the stairs before Ben had caught up with her. “Let me help you out of the dress,” he said. “Mama will kill me if you ruin it.”

“Fine.”

“And if you think I’m going to let you sleep naked in my bed and not be there to enjoy it, you’ve lost your mind.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”


	23. Chapter 23

Rey took a deep breath as Ben pulled up in front of the building, closing her eyes and reminding herself that what she was about to do was a good thing. “So, this is it.”

“This is it,” Ben confirmed, reaching across the console to take Rey’s hand. “Don’t be so nervous, okay? Amilyn is the most welcoming, least threatening person you will ever meet.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “Ben, I’m about to go tell your mother’s best friend that you hired me for sex. I’m going to be fucking nervous about that.”

“You don’t have to start with that, you know,” Ben said softly. “You could start with something else and build up to that.”

“No,” Rey replied, shaking her head. “I need to get that off my chest first. Then we can get to my examples of love and long-lasting relationships and how they’re going to completely destroy what is between us in the end.”

“Baby, nothing is going to destroy what’s between us.”

“You can’t say that,” Rey murmured, unbuckling her seatbelt. “You have no idea what could happen.”

“Alright, maybe that’s true. But I firmly believe that whatever it is that comes up, you and I will be able to resolve it.”

Rey took a couple of deep breaths and then opened the door. “You can’t say that either.”

She got out of the car before Ben could say another word, and she walked towards the building without looking back at the car. Once she was inside, she headed for the elevator, pressed the button for the fourteenth floor, and then leaned up against the wall, trying to tell herself that Ben was right, there was no reason to be so nervous.

She was willing to admit that she was more than a little fucked up from the way her life had been before she met Ben, and she was ready to do what was necessary to change that so she could enjoy the rest of her life with him. She wanted to not be so afraid of what having that life with him meant, and she knew that it was her past experiences that were holding her back, not the prospect of everything that came along with being Ben fucking Solo’s wife.

Rey’s examples of love were not exactly the best, and she didn’t trust herself not to completely fuck everything up in the end. Getting hurt was something she was used to so she wasn’t worried about that, but the thought of hurting Ben killed her. Ben loved her so much, too much, and when her fucking it up inevitably happened, it was going to destroy him. 

She didn’t want to destroy him.

The elevator slowed and Rey pushed off from the wall, smoothing down the skirt of her dress as the doors opened. She walked down the hall until she reached the right numbered door, took a deep breath, and then opened it and walked inside. The office looked nothing like what Rey had been expecting, more like a living room than the inside of a medical professional’s office, and Rey remembered what Ben had told her about how things were going to be.

No receptionist, no other clients. The only other person in the entire office would be Amilyn herself.

Rey took another deep breath and sat down in one of the armchairs, smoothing out her skirt again and wondering what she was supposed to do next. She was left with those thoughts only for a few moments, one of the other doors opening and a woman with lavender-colored hair walking into the room in what looked like incredibly comfortable clothes.

Well, she hadn’t been expecting that.

“Rey,” Amilyn said, smiling as she walked over to the door and locked it. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, Dr. Holdo,” Rey said, and Amilyn laughed.

“Please, call me Amilyn,” she said. “Dr. Holdo makes me feel too stuffy.”

Rey nodded nervously. “Amilyn then.”

Amilyn smiled at her. “I hope you don’t mind how I’m dressed. I always go casual on Sundays. I need one day of the week to be lazy.”

Rey laughed. “That I can understand. If I’m not at work or out doing something that requires me to look like I do today, then I’m in the most comfortable clothes I own.”

“Then do know that the next time we meet, you can wear those clothes. I won’t mind at all.” Amilyn stood up and walked towards another door. “Would you like a cup of coffee? Or maybe tea?”

“Tea would be great,” Rey replied.

“Then I will be right back. I already have the hot water ready.”

Rey took a deep breath as Amilyn left the room, telling herself that things were fine. From her brief first impression, Amilyn seemed lovely and she could tell that it would be easy to carry on a conversation with her. 

But would it be easy to have a conversation about what she desperately needed to talk about? 

Amilyn returned with a tray, offering it to Rey to get a cup before taking the other off of it and setting the tray to the side. She sat down across from Rey and smiled. “So, I always start off light and easy with a new client. We’re going to start with some basic ‘getting to know you’ stuff. Be as vague or specific as you’d like.”

Rey nodded, took a long sip of her tea, and then began to answer Amilyn’s questions. She was born in Liverpool but grew up in London until she had to move to New York because of the death of her parents. She’d been very attached to her grandmother once she had, but she’d lost her less than a year later and was left with her grandfather. He was devastated over losing his wife and his son in such close succession and for some reason blamed Rey for it, so he was cold and unloving and seemed to hate and resent her. She desperately wanted to cut him out of her life for good but every time she tried, the thought that her father and grandmother wouldn’t have wanted her to do that went through her mind so she still had occasional phone calls with him.

And then came the question that Rey dreaded and yet desperately needed to answer. 

“Your relationship with Ben Solo is very well known, so let’s talk about that for a minute,” Amilyn said. “How did you two meet?”

Rey took a very long sip of her tea, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and told herself that she absolutely had to be honest. She had to be honest and move past this or it was going to tear her and Ben apart.

“I, um,” she started, taking another deep breath. “I was in a lot of debt. I was drowning in student loans, I couldn’t afford to pay my rent, the only job I could find was working part-time at a McDonald’s. I was desperate. My friend, my best friend really, told me about how she used to work as an escort and how much money she made doing it, and well, as I said, I was desperate. So she helped get me a job as an escort.”

Rey paused and took a long sip of her tea. “Ben was my fifth client. There is something about me that he has been attached to ever since that first night, and he negotiated for me to be his exclusive, meaning he was my only client. He paid me millions of dollars so that he and only he could fuck me. When the media found out about me, we confessed our feelings for one another and decided to give this a chance. He wants to marry me and all I can think about is how we met and how daunting the thought of being Ben Solo’s wife is. But it’s more than that. It’s being afraid of ending up broken the way every relationship I’ve ever had has left me broken. So, I’m here to see if I can get past that and let myself just be in love with him like I am. I never want our relationship to end but that terrifies me.”

Amilyn sat there for a moment and Rey became terrified, but then she nodded and gave Rey a soft smile. “I can understand how that is something that is holding you back. I can understand how the prospect of being Ben’s wife is holding you back too. And I think we can work through both of those things so that you can have the future that you want.”

Rey swallowed hard. “You didn’t say anything about how I was a prostitute.”

“I don’t think escorts are prostitutes,” Amilyn said seriously. “But I can understand how you feel that way. It takes some adjustment from having a normal job to being paid for sex. But prostitutes get fifty dollars for a blowjob. You got thousands of dollars for a consensual situation with a client. There is a big difference there.”

“You sound like Rose.”

“Your friend?” Amilyn asked, causing Rey to nod. “I’m assuming that she did this for much longer than you did?”

“Yes,” Rey said. “She did it for about five years. I did it for about a month before I met Ben.”

“She had time to adjust and understand that it was a job. It might not have been her ideal job, but it was a job. You didn’t have that time to adjust,” Amilyn said, sipping at her tea. “For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good thing that you developed this connection with Ben. It’s incredibly obvious that you hated what you were doing.”

“Yeah,” Rey said, laughing a little. “I did.”

“Do you want to keep talking about this? Or would you like to talk about something else?”

Rey took a deep breath, had a long sip of her tea, and made a decision. “I need to work through this, so let’s keep talking about this.”

Amilyn smiled. “Then let’s explore how you and Ben met some more.”

By the time that they decided the session was over, Rey had told Amilyn everything about her first night with Ben, how different it was from the other clients she’d had, and how she had always felt comfortable and safe in his presence. As she walked out of the office and took the elevator down to the ground floor, Rey felt like this might actually help her in the long run if she gave it enough of a chance. 

And she really wanted to give it enough of a chance.

Ben was waiting with the car when she walked out of the building, and she shook her head when he opened her door for her. “I still think the fact that you have this car is ridiculous.”

Ben ran his hand along the top, grinning. “You don’t appreciate my love for Jaguars.”

“I think loving a car like this is absurd,” Rey said as she walked up to him. 

“I think that I love you more, so it doesn’t matter,” Ben said, kissing her deeply. “Get in the car. I have a surprise for you.”

Rey sighed heavily as she climbed into the car. The last time Ben had a surprise for her, he’d bought her a diamond bracelet that he’d admitted cost nearly ten thousand dollars. Rey wasn’t worth things like that. She didn’t deserve things like that.

But maybe she did.

Ben got into the driver’s seat and soon they were pulling out of the parking lot. Once they came to a stop in traffic, he turned to Rey with a smile. “So, do you want to know your surprise?”

“Considering what my last surprise was, no,” Rey said seriously. “And I don’t want it either.”

“It’s not jewelry, I promise.”

“Then what is it? The car you keep wanting to buy me even though I don’t know how to drive?”

“Nope, it’s not that either.”

“It doesn’t matter what it is. I don’t want it.”

Ben shook his head. “Then I guess I better call Finn and Rose and tell them not to meet us.”

Rey looked over at him at that. “What?”

“If you don’t want your surprise, then I need to tell Finn and Rose not to meet us there.”

Rey stared at him for a minute while Ben followed the slowly moving traffic to another stop. “Alright, you’ve officially got me curious,” she eventually said. “So what is it?”

“I’m not telling you if you don’t want it,” Ben said seriously. “But I really do think you’ll like it.”

Rey slid down in her seat, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. “I don’t want to be angry with you today.”

“You won’t be,” Ben said softly. “I promise.”

“Then fine, I want the surprise.”

Ben grinned. “Rose told me what your favorite Italian restaurant is, so we’re going there for lunch.”

Rey looked over at him. “What? There is no way you’re going to go with me to Luigi’s. It’ll cause too many headlines.”

“Well, I might have made it so it’ll be just the four of us.”

Rey shook her head. “That’s more like it. You seriously rented out Luigi's?”

“I seriously rented out Luigi's,” Ben said. “I paid them way more than was necessary as well. Rose said that there has been some worry about them going out of business and I don’t want that to happen if it’s your favorite.”

Rey laughed. “I’m surprised you didn’t offer to buy the place.”

Ben stayed silent and Rey sighed. “So that means you offered to buy the place.”

Ben stayed silent again, and Rey stared at him for a moment. “You actually bought the place, didn’t you? You paid Paolo and Maria way more than the business is worth with the agreement that they’d still run it the way they do now.”

Ben swallowed hard as he brought the car to a stop again. “I didn’t want you to lose your favorite place. And from talking with them, I learned that within the next three months, that was probably what was going to happen. For what it’s worth, they were desperate for some investment into the business but banks wouldn’t give them a loan for reasons they didn’t want to get into with me, and I respect that. So I offered to buy the business from them. I don’t care if the place makes money, and I don’t care how much it costs me to own it. All I care about is that it not closing will probably make you happy.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “I used to be happy if my boyfriend would buy me a slice of Luigi's pizza. You bought me the entire restaurant.”

“Basically,” Ben murmured. “Is that alright?”

Rey leaned across the console and pulled Ben into a kiss. “It’s alright. And you’re going to love it. I promise.”

“They offered me lunch the other day when I went in there to discuss things with them, but I declined because I wanted my first experience to be with you,” Ben said, smiling. “I have never been to an Italian restaurant like this so you’re going to have to help me decide what is good.”

“It’s all good, trust me,” Rey said, reaching over and putting her hand on Ben’s knee as he started to drive again. “We’ll have to order a few things for you to try and then I can take the leftovers home to eat for dinner when you go to that party on Tuesday night.”

“You should come with me to that,” Ben said softly. “People are going to start thinking that it’s weirder for you not to be there than it would be for you to be.”

“Maybe, but I’m not going with you.”

“I can’t convince you?”

“Not for this one. Maybe the next one.”

“Okay,” Ben said, nodding. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Amilyn is nice,” was out of Rey’s mouth before she could stop it. “And she didn’t judge me for how we met.”

“So you did tell her about that.”

“Yes, I did,” Rey said. “And from talking with her, I think that she’ll be able to help me get through this.”

Ben smiled. “That’s wonderful to hear because I want you to be happy with me forever.”

Rey took a deep breath, forced her automatic reaction of asking Ben not to talk about forever down, and smiled. “Me too.”

Ben grinned at her and turned his attention back to the road. “Alright, tell me what your favorite thing at Luigi’s is. I want to know.”

Rey settled back in her seat and smiled. “I’m going to list off half the menu right now, I hope you know that.”

Ben laughed. “That’s fine. I’m looking forward to trying all of it.”


	24. Chapter 24

Rey walked back into her office and shut the door, pulling at her hair as she sat down in her chair. The principal at the Academy of Arts & Letters was blocking practically every idea that Rey and the team had come up with for this new project and it made her want to scream in frustration and throw her papers across the room during their meetings. 

But that wasn’t the real problem and she knew it. 

Poe and Zorii were having a party on Saturday night and they had invited her and Ben to attend. Ben had accepted the invitation without consulting Rey at all, and she was still angry with him about it. She wasn't ready to go to one of these parties. She wasn’t ready to be judged by the high society in person. She wasn’t ready for confirmation that she wasn’t good enough for Ben because once she got that confirmation it was going to be harder to believe that Ben really wanted her there. 

It was going to be harder to believe that she belonged there, and that was hard enough to believe as it was. 

Rey put her head down on her desk and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. It was Thursday and that meant that she only had about forty-eight hours to prepare herself for the scariest thing she’d ever done. Not even facing her abusive ex-boyfriend had been as scary as this was to her.

The door opened and Zorii poked her head in, frowning when she noticed Rey’s head was down. “Rey? Is everything alright?” 

Rey took another deep breath before sitting up and giving Zorii a forced smile. “Fine. Can I help you with something?”

Zorii walked into the office and shut the door behind her. “Come on. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “It’s silly.”

“I bet it’s not,” Zorii said as she sat down across from her. “I said I’d help you through this as best I could. Let me do so.”

Rey sat there for a moment before sighing. “I am absolutely dreading Saturday night.”

“Why?” Zorii asked. “People are going to love you.”

“No, they’re not,” Rey said seriously. “They’re all going to judge me, and then they’re all going to start talking about me behind Ben’s back, and then it’s all going to get to Ben and he’ll realize what a waste of time I am, and then I’ll end up broken like I always do. So, therefore, I am absolutely dreading Saturday night. It’s the beginning of the end.”

“Oh, Rey, you cannot go into the party with that mindset,” Zorii said firmly. “You have to think that you’re going to impress the hell out of them. And then you will.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” Zorii said, smiling at her. “I know for a fact that people are already impressed with the way you’ve handled all the media attention.”

Rey groaned. “There was another fucking article from Liam today. I am so sick of this bullshit.”

“Yes, I saw that. Don’t think about it too much. The public has already made up their minds on whether or not they think that bullshit is true, and they’re either loving the new information or rolling their eyes at what Liam has come up with now. What you need to do is not worry about any of that and focus on what you have control of, which is your relationship with Ben.”

“It’s a little hard to ignore the kind of headlines that are coming from Liam and that fucking website,” Rey said bitterly. “They’re making me out to be a whore today with this motherfucking nonsense about our cocaine-fueled orgies.”

“Look, if you’re going to be with Ben, that means being part of the social circles of the high society,” Zorii replied. “And part of these social circles is that the newspapers are desperate for any piece of information they can get about us. I’ll tell you some of the not so nice stuff they’ve come up with about me and Poe some other time. The thing I need you to realize is that everyone in these social circles knows that this shit gets made up all the time. There is a minuscule amount of it that is actually true. I can almost guarantee you that no one who is going to be at the party on Saturday believes a word of it.”

Rey took a deep breath. “You really think so?”

“Ben’s stance on illegal drugs is very clear,” Zorii replied. “There was a girlfriend once who was using some and the moment he found out about it, the relationship was over. If you were involved with drugs in any way, past or present, Ben would have nothing to do with you. It’s just the way that he is. And everyone knows that. There's not going to be a word of that bullshit today that they believe.”

Rey took another deep breath. “Am I going to have to talk about this on Saturday?”

“Only if you want to. If you’re questioned about it, just brush right on over it and no one will press you for more information. We all understand that this shit can be difficult to talk about when the papers and websites get this fucking bad.”

Rey took yet another deep breath. “I still think they’re all going to be judging me.”

“Probably,” Zorii said truthfully, “but from all the time that we’ve spent together, Rey, I am certain of the fact that you’ll impress the hell out of them. You’re intelligent, you’re funny, and please don’t take offense to this, but you carry yourself above your station. I’ve met a lot of people who’ve come here to work that are from similar backgrounds as yours, and not a single one of them had the amount of class that you do. 

“You could have completely collapsed when this shit with Liam first hit the papers, but you didn’t. Fuck, you even came back to work a couple of days later and were so incredibly calm and composed that I could have sworn you didn’t even know about the articles. You’ve handled incredibly awkward situations with a grace that belies what some people in the high society would consider your place in life. You’ve proven yourself to them without you even knowing it.”

Rey sat there quietly for a few moments. “I don’t know if I believe you, but thank you for saying all of that.”

“It’s the truth,” Zorii said, smiling at her. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this. And Ben wouldn’t bring you to a party like this to feed you to the wolves. There will be plenty of people at this party that Ben wants to introduce you to. He’s finally found his other half, Rey. You make him whole and he wants everyone to know you because of that.”

Rey swallowed hard. “That scares me,” she said softly. “I’m not going to lie about that.”

“I’m not surprised. I grew up in an incredibly wealthy family but the prospect of being Ben Solo’s wife would have been so daunting to me. I can only imagine what it must feel like for you. I’m not surprised that it scares you.”

“It’s only been nine months,” Rey murmured. “And he’s been saying he wants to marry me since practically the beginning. I’ll be honest. I don’t know how to handle that.”

Zorii smiled at her. “I’m a big believer of the fact that when it comes to love, you just know. I mean, I knew I was going to marry Poe on our third date. And when it comes to Ben and his past girlfriends, I’ve always known that they weren’t the right fit, no matter how serious the relationship seemed to be. But you...from that first day that we met, I’ve known that you were the right fit, and you’ve just proven that to me more as time has gone on. To be perfectly honest with you, Rey, I’m surprised that you two aren’t already engaged and I know I’m not the only one.”

There was a knock on the door before Rey could respond, and when it turned out to be someone there to get Zorii for a meeting, Rey was relieved. Once Zorii had left and she was alone again, Rey sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying desperately not to think about the last sentence that Zorii had said. 

People were surprised that they weren’t already engaged. 

She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ben, but to actually have a ring on her finger and a wedding to plan scared her more than the prospect of going to the party on Saturday. Why was she so scared of marrying Ben?

Rey made a mental note to talk to Amilyn about that in her next session and then sat up straight, reaching for her laptop. She needed to focus on this Academy of Arts & Letters project because they were basically starting from scratch again and finding the right idea to get the principal onboard was a must.

**********

The party was different than Rey expected it to be.

Sure, it was swanky as fuck. She was in yet another evening gown, and while she hadn’t seen the purpose at the time of the shopping trip, she was now eternally grateful that Leia, Padmé, and Mara had talked her into buying several gowns instead of just one for the masquerade ball. Nothing that she owned would have been appropriate for a party like this, and since she’d come to this one, she knew Ben was going to be insistent that she go to the next.

And she very well might now.

Poe and Zorii were the only other people there that she’d met properly before, though several others she came to learn were people she and Ben had talked to at the masquerade ball through the disguise of the masks. The men always started talking business with Ben so their wives spoke to Rey, and Rey found that those conversations were easier than she had been expecting. There were none of the sneers that she thought that she would be receiving, and even though she was sure that they were judging the hell out of her with every word that she said, she was pretty sure that she hadn’t put a toe out of place.

She was getting more champagne at the bar with Ben when a couple walked up to it, and the moment Ben spoke, Rey knew that she had to be very, very careful. “Hux,” Ben said. “Phasma.”

“Ben, it is so wonderful to see you,” Phasma said, smiling at him. “And it looks like you’ve finally brought the girl out to play. That’s lovely.”

Rey sucked in a sharp breath and Ben wrapped his arm around her waist, squeezing lightly. “Rey hadn’t been available to attend any of these with me before now,” he said, his tone clipped. “I am happy that she was able to attend tonight.”

“Of course. We’re just delighted to finally see her in the flesh,” Hux said, looking Rey up and down. “The pictures don’t do her justice.”

Rey swallowed hard as she realized that he meant the naked pictures that Liam had given that fucking website, and she bit her tongue hard to keep from lashing out. If she started talking, she was going to bring up Rose and what Hux had done to her, and she absolutely could not do that. Doing that would probably be enough to make Hux figure out how it was she and Ben had met, and that information getting out would be ten trillion times worse than the shit that Liam kept selling to the papers.

“Yes,” Ben said, smiling at Rey. “She looks stunning tonight.”

“I’m sure she looks stunning at home as well,” Hux said, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Much the same way that I find Phasma to be stunning.”

Phasma slapped at Hux’s shoulder as Ben curled his other hand into a fist, using every ounce of self-control that he had to stop himself from punching Hux then and there. “Armitage, behave,” Phasma said, giving Rey a smile that she could tell was fake. “Do excuse him. He’s had a bit too much to drink.”

Rey forced herself to nod. “It’s alright,” she got out before biting her tongue again. 

“She’s so talkative,” Hux said, shaking his head. “I’d think that you’d want someone more verbose, Solo. Although, given her background, I’d understand if you just wanted her to shut up. I imagine anything she has to say is quite boring. Perhaps you use something to shut her up. I bet she’d like that.”

“Hux,” came Poe’s voice, and Rey looked over to see him and Zorii coming towards them. “Pryde was looking for you so that you could talk about that merger.”

Hux groaned. “I hate talking to that man.”

“You’re the one who works for Snoke now,” Zorii said. “That means you have to deal with men like Enric Pryde.”

“Yes, unfortunately, I wasn’t performing well enough for Ben’s standards,” Hux said, shaking his head. “I certainly hope that you do, Rey. He’ll drop you in an instant if you don’t.”

And then Hux took Phasma by the hand and walked away.

Ben immediately turned to Rey and pulled her into his arms, and Rey buried her face in Ben’s neck. “I hate that man so much,” Ben seethed. “I am so, so sorry he spoke to you like that.”

“How bad?” Poe asked, dropping his voice low.

“Not alarm bells level bad,” Ben responded. 

“Alarm bells level bad?” Rey murmured into Ben’s shoulder. 

“Code for you know what,” Ben murmured, looking over at Poe. “Why the fuck did you invite them?”

“Hate him or not, he’s still a big enough name that he needs to be invited to an event like this,” Zorii said. “And you know that.”

“Yeah, well, I also know that he basically said that he’s spent time staring at the pictures of Rey that lousy motherfucker sold to that fucking website too,” Ben said, anger burning through him. “You are very lucky that I didn’t punch him.”

“I’m going to suggest to Phasma that once he’s done talking with Pryde that they need to leave before Hux embarrasses himself any more,” Zorii said, putting a hand on Rey’s shoulder for a moment before walking away. 

“Zorii will get them out of here,” Poe said, nodding when Rey pulled back and looked at him. “So don’t worry about him coming back over here tonight. And at least now you know how he’s going to act the next time you see him.”

“The next time I see him,” Rey said slowly. “It took all of my self-control not to fucking kill him.”

Poe gave her a confused look and Rey sighed. “He had some personal dealings with a friend and that’s all I’d like to say about that.”

“I see,” Poe said. “And this same friend is the one who helped get you that job?” Rey sighed before nodding, and then Poe looked at her in understanding. “Tell Rose that I would like to talk to her about that. Banning him is something that I can do.”

“Banning who from what?” came a voice, and Poe turned around to greet a man whose name Rey didn’t know.

“Ben from our poker games,” Poe lied. “He fucking cheats all the time.”

“I do not!” Ben exclaimed, and they all laughed. 

The man asked Poe if they could go talk somewhere in private, so Poe walked away with him, leaving Ben and Rey alone. “Are you alright?” Ben asked softly, and Rey took a moment but nodded. 

“I have to get used to this shit, right?” she murmured. “This is the consequence of Liam putting that shit out there. This is the consequence of my background. Not everyone is going to be as nice as most everyone has been tonight. Some people are going to be like Hux.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Ben,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I know enough about the world you live in to know that I will never change some of these people’s minds. I’ll come to terms with that eventually.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“Yeah, well, I shouldn’t have nude photos of me on the internet either, but that’s the situation I find myself in,” Rey said, picking up her champagne glass and draining it. “The more I go to parties with you, the more I will get used to the veiled insults, and the more I get used to them, the more I will be able to brush them off as though they mean nothing. For now, I’m really glad that I have a session with Amilyn tomorrow morning because I am going to desperately need to talk about tonight with someone who is not you.”

Ben nodded and pulled Rey into a kiss. “I just want you to know that not a single thing that anyone has said about you tonight has changed my opinion of you in any way. I love you for who you are. That’s all that matters to me.”

Rey smiled at him. “Thank you,” she breathed out. “And I love you too.”

Ben let go of her long enough to check his watch. “Ten o’clock. We’ve been here long enough that leaving now wouldn’t be an issue. Would you like to go? I have this need to reward you for how well you did tonight.”

Rey felt a shiver run down her spine. “And how do you plan on doing that, Mr. Solo?” she asked, her voice low.

“I thought we could start up against the windows and then go from there,” Ben replied and Rey nodded before she could stop herself.

“Then I think we should leave.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story was supposed to be a couple of chapters long. what the fuck happened? I don't know but I like it this way.

Ben walked into the living room, looking down at the sweater and jeans that he was wearing before turning his gaze to Rey. “How do I look?”

“Gorgeous,” Rey said, smiling at him. “And perfectly dressed for a Thanksgiving like the one that we’re going to have.”

“I don’t want to screw this up,” Ben admitted. 

Rey laughed. “Ben, it’s standing behind a buffet bar and ladling out soup for some people who are going to be extremely thankful for a hot meal. You can’t possibly screw this up.”

“Trust me, I can,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “But seriously, I’ve dressed appropriately?”

Rey walked over to him and gave him a deep kiss. “You have dressed appropriately, I promise.”

Ben nodded just as the doorbell rang, and Rey took him by the hand and led him into the entryway. “Come on, that’s Finn and Rose. Answer the door, please. I’m going to go get my stuff.”

Ben walked over to the door while Rey headed towards the kitchen, and he took another deep breath before opening the door. Finn and Rose were standing there with coats in their hands, and Ben inwardly sighed with relief when he saw that Finn was dressed similarly to him. If Finn was dressed that way, then that meant that he was dressed appropriately and that made Ben relax. 

“Finn, Rose, come in,” he finally said, opening the door wide. “Rey is getting her stuff.”

“Good because we need to go soon to get there on time. The trains are going to be packed full of people because of the parade,” Finn said as he walked inside.

“We don’t need the trains,” Ben said. “I’ll drive us.”

“You are not showing up at a homeless shelter in a fucking Jaguar,” Rey called out from the kitchen.

“Then we won’t take the Jag,” Ben called back. “We’ll take the Mercedes.”

“That is not an appropriate car to take to a homeless shelter either,” Rose said seriously. “But if you insist upon driving, you can drive Finn’s car.”

Ben thought about the beat-up car that he considered a piece of junk for a moment before swallowing hard. “You know, I’d be happy to replace that car for you.”

“I appreciate that offer, Ben, but I can’t accept it,” Finn replied. “But you can drive it to the shelter. Or I can drive since I know where we’re going and you don’t.”

“That’s a great idea,” Rey said as she walked into the room. “Ben can sit up front with you, and Rose and I will sit in the backseat.”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded when Rey slipped her hand into his. “Perfect. Allow me to go get my coat and then we’ll go.”

He walked away before anything else could be said, heading into the other room to retrieve his coat from where he had laid it over the back of a chair. He took a couple of deep breaths before putting it on and heading back to the entryway. He found everyone standing there with their coats on and he forced a smile onto his face. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Rey said, reaching for his hand. “Let’s go.”

They left the apartment and headed to the elevator, and Ben listened while Finn, Rose, and Rey talked about someone Ben had never heard of before but seemed to be a co-worker of Finn’s. Rey squeezed his hand every time he took a deep breath, and Ben wanted to kiss her senseless because she somehow knew that he was nervous.

He was incredibly nervous, not just about what they were going to do on this Thanksgiving Day, but also for the lunch that was happening the next day that he needed to tell Rey about.

The lunch with his mother, which really meant that it was lunch with his father because Leia was sneaky like that.

When they reached the garage, Ben swallowed hard and got into the passenger’s side in the front. Once everyone was situated in the car, Finn cranked the engine and sighed heavily when it didn’t start. “Fuck, not this again.”

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” Rose said. “We can just take the train.”

“No, this is a problem that needs to be solved, and taking the train isn’t going to solve it.” Finn cranked the engine again, groaning when it still didn’t start. “I wonder if the battery is dead again.”

“You just replaced the battery last month,” Rose pointed out.

“I know, but there is obviously something wrong with the connection or something,” Finn said, banging his hand against the steering wheel. “And the tow company is probably closed today, and the repair shop definitely is, and fuck.”

“Let’s just take the sedan,” Ben suggested. “I’ll even let you drive it, Finn.”

Finn had the door open before another word could be said. “Let’s go because we’re going to be late if we don’t.”

Rose and Rey opened their doors so Ben did the same, and then he fished his keys out of his pocket and handed them over to Finn. “Don’t scratch it.”

Finn laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m going to be more careful driving this than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Everyone laughed and they got in the car, and Finn hummed happily when the car started right up. “God, that must be nice.”

“My offer to buy you a new car still stands,” Ben said as Finn pulled out of the parking space. “Just let me know if you change your mind.”

“I’m probably going to change my mind after this,” Finn laughed. “Driving this is incredible compared to mine. I don’t have to crank the wheel to turn it.”

“You mean your power steering is out?” Ben asked, and then they entered into a conversation about what was wrong with Finn’s car, leaving Rey baffled in the backseat.

“Did you know that he knew this much about how a car works?” Rose leaned over and asked.

“No, not at all,” Rey said, shaking her head. “I had no idea.”

“I have a feeling there’s a lot about Ben that you don’t know,” Rose murmured.

Rey sighed. “I think you might be right about that.”

“Anyway,” Rose said, knowing that Rey didn’t want to talk about that anymore, “can I let you in on a secret?”

“Of course,” Rey said, and Rose leaned closer and lowered her voice.

“I found a box in the drawer when I was putting away laundry, and I opened it up to find a ring.”

Rey slapped a hand over her mouth before she could squeal. “He finally had enough money to buy one?” 

“Apparently so,” Rose said, smiling. “So I’m just waiting for him to ask.”

“I am so happy for you,” Rey whispered. “So, so happy.”

“Thanks,” Rose said, smiling. “Me too.”

“What are you girls whispering about back there?” Finn asked suddenly, making them both jump.

“Nothing,” they said at the same time, and Ben turned and gave them a suspicious look. 

“It’s an inside joke,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Something only Rose will get. Don’t worry about it.”

Ben just shook his head and turned back towards the front and the rest of the car ride was mostly silent. As they pulled up to the homeless shelter, Ben felt his hands start to shake. He told himself to calm down, that this was a good thing he was about to do, that there was absolutely no reason to be so fucking nervous, but it didn’t work. When they got out of the car and started walking towards the building, he swallowed hard and took a couple of deep breaths. 

Rey slipped her hand around Ben’s elbow as they walked, and he turned and looked at her with a nervous smile. “You’re fine,” she said softly. “And you’re going to enjoy this.”

“I’m fine,” Ben said, knowing full well that his voice said otherwise. “And this will be fun.”

“I’m not sure fun is the right word for it,” Rey said, smiling at him. “But I guarantee that you’re going to feel like you did something good by the time that we’re done.”

Ben nodded as they approached the door, and when Finn opened it, he took another deep breath. He could do this. The fact that he was nervous was ridiculous. It was just feeding some people food who desperately needed it. That’s all it was.

Once they were inside the building, Ben looked around and saw the homeless men and women that were already in there, and he was horrified to see children as well. He lived in luxury, such unadulterated luxury, and there was a little girl who he thought couldn’t be more than five running around with dirty clothes and unwashed hair, and dear God he had to help these people. 

“Rey?” Ben asked quietly. “Can I help these people out?”

“Meaning?” Rey asked as they walked towards the back.

“Meaning money. Clothes. A place to live. A job. Anything to help them.”

Rey stopped them and looked over at Ben. “We’ve barely set foot in the door, Ben.”

“I know,” Ben murmured. “But I wasn’t expecting to see children who don’t have a home.”

Rey looked around the room until she saw the children that Ben had been referring to. “Oh, Tammy’s here. I was wondering if she would be. She was talking about a prospective job last year.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Last year? She’s been homeless for a year?”

“Three,” Rey said softly. “She’s been here for Thanksgiving for the last three years.”

“How did she end up here?” Ben asked. “What’s her story?”

“She had all kinds of health problems with Stacy. That’s the little girl with her. Anyway, I don’t know all the details. I just know that whatever happened medically when she was pregnant bankrupted her and her husband. Then, the husband took off in the middle of the night and she discovered that he’d been gambling away what little money they did have and had borrowed some from the bank to keep up his habit. She was destroyed financially, couldn’t afford to keep the apartment, didn’t have any money or anywhere to go. So she ended up on the streets with her kids.”

Ben knew immediately what he had to do. “Then she’s getting an apartment and a job and all of her debt paid.”

“Ben, you don’t have to do that. We didn’t come here for you to play the savior.”

“I know I don’t have to do that and don’t fucking call me a savior,” Ben said sharply. “I’ll stand behind that buffet bar and ladle soup or whatever, but if I can help these people in another way, then you better fucking believe I’m going to do it.”

Rey studied him for a moment. “You were terrified of coming in here not more than five minutes ago.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Yes, I was,” he admitted. “But I always have this overwhelming urge to help when I can. I know the circumstances were very different but I helped you. I’ve helped Finn and Rose and will continue to do so. There are countless employees at both Skywalker and Solo that I’ve helped out with by giving them a job. I helped out when I bought Luigi’s. I like to help. I have more money than I could spend in one hundred lifetimes. If I can use some of it to help these people who desperately need it, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Rey just shook her head. “I hope you’re prepared for the fact that a lot of them will just want some money that they’ll then spend on drugs or alcohol. Not all of these people are going to want your help in getting off the streets.”

“I’m going to try anyway,” Ben said, and Rey nodded.

“Start with Tammy. She’ll be the most receptive to it, and if the others see her reaction to your generosity, they may be more willing to accept it. A lot of these people aren’t going to want charity.”

“Then I will start with Tammy,” Ben said, pulling Rey into a kiss. “When I’m needed, come get me.”

Rey smiled. “I will do so.”

Rey walked into the back and Ben turned around, taking a deep breath before walking in Tammy’s direction. She pulled her children close to her as he approached, and before Ben could speak, she was questioning if he was Ben Solo. Ben confirmed that and then struck up a conversation, and by the time that Rey came over to tell him that he was needed, Tammy was sobbing into her son’s shoulder out of pure relief that someone was finally going to help her. He smiled at her children as he stood up, and Stacy wrapped her arms around Ben’s legs. His smile widened when he heard the thank you and then he went with Rey into the kitchen. 

“How did that go? It looked like it went well,” Rey said as she handed Ben an apron.

“Good,” Ben said. “Mitaka will be here around four to pick them up.”

Rey gave him a confused look. “What?”

“Mitaka will be here around four to pick them up,” Ben repeated. “Josephine has arranged for a room at the Waldorf Astoria for them to stay in until I can find something permanent for them.”

Rey shook her head. “I can’t decide which horrifies me more. The fact that you’re putting them up at the Waldorf Astoria indefinitely or the fact that you have Mitaka and Josephine working on Thanksgiving.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “They’re not working per se,” he said. “All Josephine did was make a phone call to the Waldorf. It did not disrupt her cooking of dinner, and she assured me of that. And Mitaka doesn’t have anyone to celebrate Thanksgiving with, so he was happy to have something to do. I didn’t call to ask him to do this. I called to ask him if he thought that I could trust an Uber driver not to kill them.”

Rey let out a small laugh. “Oh, Ben.”

“What? I’ve heard that happens.”

“Unfortunately yes, but not at a very high percentage,” Rey said, reaching for a hairnet. “Come here. You’ve got to wear this too.”

Ben stared at it before a moment before sighing heavily. “I swear to God if a photo of me with a hairnet on ends up in the papers…”

“Then the public will see that you spent the afternoon doing something good,” Rey said, smiling at him. “If they happen to find out that you did this, it would be good publicity, Ben. Not bad.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Ben murmured. “Alright, put the hairnet on.”

Rey grinned at him and got the hairnet situated on his head, laughing when she pulled back. “You look ridiculous.”

“That is not helping!” Ben exclaimed. 

She leaned forward and kissed him. “Don’t worry. I’m going to look ridiculous too.”

Rey quickly put her hair up and then reached for a hairnet of her own, but Ben plucked it out of her fingers before she could put it on. “Let me.”

Rey nodded and then Ben’s fingers were brushing against her skin as he gently put the hairnet on her head. She smiled at how meticulous he was being as he kept adjusting it, and eventually she reached up and grabbed onto his hands. “Ben, it’s in place, okay?”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

She smiled at him. “Then let’s go feed some people dinner.”

Ben took another deep breath, let Rey take his hand, and headed out to feed homeless people dinner. He ended up being the one to put mashed potatoes on the plates, and every person that came through the line made him smile. They were so appreciative, so happy to have a hot meal, and all he wanted to do was make sure that everyone in there never had to worry about that again. He knew he couldn’t possibly do that, but he was going to fucking try.

He mentally noted the name of the shelter and reminded himself to have Josephine set up a very generous monthly donation to it so that they could help people more. He might not be able to help everyone personally, but he could help the place that they came to.

By the time that the afternoon was over, Ben felt like he’d done something good for someone for once. He hadn’t been sitting in a penthouse in a skyscraper having members of his grandparents’ staff bring him refills on his champagne. He’d actually helped people that desperately needed it. He’d handed out all the cash that was in his wallet, he’d arranged for hotel rooms for thirty-two people, he’d seen Tammy and her family off when Mitaka arrived, and between Skywalker and Solo, they were going to have to find positions for twenty-three people. 

Some of the department heads were not going to like that. Ben didn’t care.

Finn took the keys again when they walked out of the building, and as Ben settled into the passenger’s seat, he had a huge smile on his face. Finn looked over at him as he started the car, and he smiled as well. “You look happy.”

“I am,” Ben replied. “I actually did something good for people that needed it today. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me.”

“You did wonderful things today, Ben,” Rose said from the backseat. “I hope that you’re glad that you came with us.”

Ben turned so he could see her and Rey. “I think this might be my favorite Thanksgiving ever.”

Rey grinned and leaned forward, kissing him quickly. “I am glad to hear you say that. But, it’s going to get even better.”

“It is?”

“We’re going to go eat, remember,” Rey said, buckling her seatbelt. “And while Denny’s will surely pale in comparison to whatever you usually eat on Thanksgiving Day, I promise you that we’re going to have a good time.”

“Is this food any good?” Ben asked as he settled back into the seat. 

“I think so,” Finn said, pulling out of the parking space. “But I’ve never had food from some fancy chef either.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to trying it.”

Rey laughed. “No, you’re not. Just say it.”

“Am I going to be particularly thrilled if I hate this? No. But I said I’d try it and give it a fair chance, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Well, I for one am going to enjoy it,” Rose said. “I am really hungry after serving people all that food.”

Finn chimed in that he was hungry too, and then he, Rose, and Rey started talking back and forth about Denny’s menu and what else they should order besides the turkey dinner. As Ben listened to them talk, he came to the conclusion that the three of them used to eat together at that particular restaurant a lot. It sounded like they had the menu memorized.

By the time that they got to the restaurant, Ben was hungry just from hearing them talk about the food.

The restaurant was fairly busy when they got there, but a table was available so they didn’t have to wait. Ben heard the murmurs start as people recognized him, but he decided to block that out and just concentrate on the meal they were about to have. Once they were seated and he was looking at the menu, Ben decided that he had been right. They had the menu memorized.

The picture of the turkey dinner on the paper placemat in front of him looked rather appetizing, but as he looked through the selection of other things available, he found things that he also wanted to try. So when the waitress asked if they wanted any appetizers, Ben ordered three of the ones available after listening to input from Rey, Finn, and Rose. By the time that their turkey dinners arrived, he’d already eaten quite a bit, and he’d liked it more than he’d thought he would.

The turkey dinner was nothing compared to what he was used to eating with his family, but Ben decided he liked it that way. A different meal for a different type of Thanksgiving Day, and after having spent the day with the homeless people who had ended up at the shelter, Ben was just thankful that he could have a meal like the one he was currently having.

By the time that they were back at Rey’s apartment, Ben had come to the conclusion that this had been the best Thanksgiving of his life.

“You have been very quiet ever since we got to Denny’s,” Rey said once Finn and Rose had left to go across the hall to their apartment. “Did you not enjoy it?”

“No, I enjoyed it,” Ben said, sitting down on the sofa and running his hands over his face. “I think this was the best Thanksgiving of my life.”

“Then why are you so quiet?” Rey asked, sitting down next to him.

“Today was great,” Ben said after a moment. “It made me feel so incredibly thankful for what I have. But it’s also just made me think about something that I don’t want to think about but I know that I need to because I have to tell you about it before tomorrow at noon.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My mother invited me over for lunch,” Ben said after a moment. “This really means that I’ll also be having lunch with my father because my mother is sneaky like that. She has been telling me for a few weeks now that he would really like to speak to me and that I have no idea what his opinion on you is anymore, but unless he tells me that he’s accepting your place in my life, then I see no need to ever speak to him again.”

Rey sighed heavily. “Ben, I don’t think you understand how lucky you are.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I would give up everything that I have, including you, just to be able to have my parents here with me,” Rey said softly. “And yet you have an entire family that loves you and you’re willing to push your father away just because he said some things that you didn’t like about me. Do you know what I would do? I’d have the fucking fight, I’d be mad for a few days, and then I’d resolve things with my father. I wouldn’t refuse to ever speak to him again because he said some stuff I didn’t like.”

Ben sighed heavily. “He said some pretty nasty shit about you, baby.”

“I know he did. But he also was the very kind, very charming, very funny Henry that I spent the evening with at the masquerade ball. He’s not all bad, he’s not evil, and he is not a horrible person because he doesn’t like me.”

“He doesn’t know you,” Ben muttered.

“No, he doesn’t,” Rey agreed. “But if you don’t resolve things with him, then he’s never going to get the chance to. And if this ends the way that you’re hoping it will, with getting married and having a family and all of that, then your father should be a part of it.”

Ben studied her for a moment. “You already knew about this lunch, didn’t you?”

Rey nodded. “Leia told me about it when we had lunch last week. She thought I would be able to encourage you to go.”

Ben let out a small laugh. “And that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

Rey smiled at him. “At least hear him out.”

Ben sat there for a moment but then he nodded. “Alright. I’ll hear him out.”

Rey’s smile turned into a grin and she stood up. “I think we’ve had a good day, Mr. Solo. But I can think of something that would make it better.”

She reached down and pulled her sweater off before Ben could respond, and he grinned when she tossed it at him. “I like this idea.”

“Then follow the trail of clothes and get your reward for doing this today. You deserve it.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES FOR HOW LONG THIS HAS TAKEN. 
> 
> you know what really fucking sucks? motherfucking writer's block. but I just did a 31-day writing challenge to try and break myself of it, and I don't think I entirely succeeded, but I succeeded enough that you're getting this.
> 
> this is probably terrible. just throwing that out there. but these updates will hopefully become more frequent and then as they become more frequent, better in quality. I will forever think that I write terrible sex scenes though. That's not going to change.

“Benjamin, it is wonderful to see you,” Leia said the moment Ben walked out of the elevator. “You were so dearly missed yesterday. It wasn’t Thanksgiving without you.”

“I missed you as well, Mama,” Ben said, walking over to hug her. “But I enjoyed being able to help some people who really needed it yesterday.”

“Well, I can’t wait to hear about it,” Leia said, smiling. “I’m sure your father will as well.”

“I don’t know why you expect me to care about what he thinks right now,” Ben said seriously. “I don’t see the point of this at all.”

“He said that he has something that he would like to tell both of us,” Leia explained, putting her arm around Ben’s elbow and heading towards the dining room. “I knew that you wouldn’t come over here if it was to answer that request so I told you that it would be just the two of us. I knew that you would know better, but I hoped that Rey would be able to convince you to come. And here you are.”

“If he won’t accept her, I’m walking out of here. I don’t care if it’s the middle of lunch or not,” Ben said seriously. 

“I know, darling. And I don’t know the answer to that question. I really don’t,” Leia said, smiling as they walked into the dining room. “Sit down. I’ll go get your father.”

Ben nodded and sat down in the seat that had been his while he was growing up, taking a deep breath to make sure he had firm control of his emotions. He was furious with Han. He would never forgive him for the way he’d treated Rey. He knew that much. But he was also willing to revise his decision to cut his father out of his life if he accepted Rey as the love of Ben’s life. 

All he wanted was his father’s approval. He had been searching after that his entire life. 

He knew he’d never gotten it.

He looked up when his mother walked into the room, his father a couple of steps behind her. Leia murmured thanks when Han helped her with her chair, and then Han sat down to Ben’s right. “Benjamin.”

“Father,” Ben said, knowing that Han hated it when he called him that but doing it anyway.

“Ben,” Leia said, shaking her head. “Stop.”

“That depends entirely on what he has to say,” Ben said, saying thank you when an attendant set a glass of whiskey in front of him. “I honestly don’t even know why I’m giving him the chance to say it.”

“Because you love your father and you know it,” Leia said firmly. “And I am determined that this ends here and now. Han?”

Han sat there without saying a word, which just made Ben shake his head. “This is pointless.”

“Allow him to speak,” Leia admonished. “Han, you said that you had something to tell us. Perhaps start there.”

“No, Leia,” Han said gruffly. “That is for after the meal is over.”

“Well, then let us talk about something else for now,” Leia said, smiling at them both. “How about you tell us how yesterday went, Ben? The coverage in the papers was good.”

Ben sighed heavily. “There wasn’t supposed to be coverage in the papers.”

“Well, tell that to the shelter then because they’re the ones that called them,” Leia said. “I’ll have to show you before you leave. It’s a very well written article about your generosity. Tell us the story from your perspective, please.”

Ben took a long sip of his whiskey but then did as his mother had asked, constantly stressing Rey’s role in him being able to feel like someone who actually helped some people for once. Leia asked questions while Han remained silent, and they were halfway through their main course before Han spoke again. “She’s influenced you.”

“Yes,” Ben said without looking over at his father, “she has, and in the best of ways. She is teaching me how to be more of a person than I was before.”

“So you are saying we didn’t raise you right then,” Han said, which just made Ben’s blood boil.

“Han, please,” Leia said before Ben could say anything. “You know that is not what Ben meant.”

“No, what I meant is that I’m learning how to be a normal person, not just some fucking member of the elite high up in a skyscraper,” Ben said seriously. “I’d think that your experience with that Qi’ra woman would make you understand how that is a good thing.”

Han’s eyes flicked to Leia. “You told him about that?”

“He deserved to know why you are acting like such a dick,” Leia said firmly. “Rey reminding you too much of Qi’ra is a logical conclusion after some of the things that you’ve said about her.”

Han reached for his glass and drank half of it down. “Yes, she reminds me of Qi’ra and not in a good way,” he said after a moment. “But that is not my problem.”

“Then what the fuck is it?” Ben exclaimed. “Because I am more than willing to walk out of here right now and never come back if you insult her one more time.”

“Benjamin,” Leia said, but Han spoke before she could continue.

“She was kind at the masquerade ball, but that cannot be trusted.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Ben said, pushing his chair back. “I refuse to listen to this.”

“It cannot be trusted because we did not know that we were speaking to each other,” Han continued as Ben stood up. “So I am requesting that you bring her for dinner so that I may make a better assessment.”

Ben paused. “You want me to bring Rey over for dinner?”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” Leia said, smiling at Han. “How about next Friday, Ben? Will that work?”

Ben slowly sat back down. “I will have to check with Rey.”

“I will not hesitate to tell you that she is nothing more than a golddigger right in front of her,” Han said bluntly. 

“For fuck’s sake, Han,” Leia said, shaking her head. “Rey is not a golddigger.”

“She is incredibly uncomfortable with all of the money,” Ben said, reaching for his whiskey. “She’s certainly not after it.”

“I will be the judge of that,” Han said, and Ben sighed heavily.

“Still not trusted to make my own decisions. I see how it is.”

“Your decisions cost the family more than half a billion dollars last year,” Han said seriously.

“No, my decisions helped raise profits by nearly thirty percent,” Ben countered back. “Your mismanagement in leaving someone as inept as Armitage Hux in charge is what cost you half a billion dollars. And it wasn’t the family that lost that money, it was you, because, despite everything, you still won’t let me have a penny of it!”

“Han, Ben, please,” Leia said, but neither listened.

“You have more than enough to use for the ridiculously stupid ways that you spend money,” Han spit back. “I’ve heard about the Jaguar. What a fucking waste.”

“Yes, it’s a Jaguar. It’s a car I’ve wanted since I was a teenager. I’m almost forty and decided to buy it. Fucking deal with it,” Ben got out, anger burning through him. 

“My father would be embarrassed by your extravagance.”

“My extravagance? Look the fuck around at how you live,” Ben said angrily. “You know what? Fuck your money. I hereby denounce the fact that I’m a Solo. Give it all to fucking charity.”

“Benjamin,” Leia said, alarmed. “You don’t mean that.”

“The fuck I don’t,” Ben said, standing up. “Thank you for the lunch invitation, Mama, but next time, please make sure it’s just the two of us. I don’t have a father anymore.”

Ben walked out of the room and Leia quickly followed after him. “Benjamin, wait.”

Ben paused near the elevator and turned to face her. “I am so sick of this shit, Mama. I am so sick of being made to feel like I’m less than a person when I’m around him. It’s been like this my entire life. I’m never good enough for him, no matter what I do. So I’m done. I’m just done.”

“He loves you just the way you are, sweetheart,” Leia said, caressing the side of Ben’s face. “He just has never been good at expressing his emotions and doesn’t know how to get that across.”

Ben sighed heavily. “He can start by trusting my judgment. I don’t trust people, Mama. I don’t trust hardly anyone. I barely have friends beyond Poe and Zorii because of it. I hate practically everyone that surrounds me. Rey makes me feel like I can breathe, and when he attacks her by calling her a golddigger and a whore when he’s hardly ever talked to her, I just...I can’t. I just can’t. I have worked my entire life to get his approval and I have never gotten it. Apparently, I never will. But I’m drawing the line now. I’m done.”

Leia pulled her son into her arms. “He just wants you to be happy.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Ben said, the fight leaving him and tears pricking at his eyes. “If he did, he’d realize that for once, I am. She makes me so happy.”

“I know,” Leia soothed, glaring at Han when he walked into the room. “And we’ll use dinner next Friday to show him that.”

“You think I actually want to be near him? That I want Rey to be near him? She is uncomfortable enough with everything that surrounds me. Loves me, I don’t doubt that, but the money and the attention and all of that? It fucking overwhelms her. I’m so afraid that something is going to happen to push her away and then I will be shattered, Mama. Broken into more pieces than numbers exist. And my own father sending her over the edge would just kill me.”

“Shh, that’s not going to happen,” Leia said, glaring at Han again. “We’re going to do everything we can to welcome her to the family.”

“Yeah, right,” Ben said, letting out a sarcastic laugh. “He’ll probably be so happy the day that she is gone. He won’t care about the fact that I’ll never be the same.”

“Ben, he loves you,” Leia murmured. “Of course he will care.”

“Then maybe he could fucking act like he does for once,” Ben said, pulling back and glancing over to see Han standing there. “Because right now, it sure as fuck does not feel like he cares about me at all. Goodbye, Mama.”

Ben pressed the button for the elevator and stepped inside once the doors were open despite Leia saying his name. He kept his eyes on his father until the doors closed, and then he slumped against the wall, running his hands over his face. 

Fuck his father.

**********

Ben was still infuriated when he got back to the penthouse and he immediately headed towards his gym to try to work it off. But as he walked past his office, he heard Rey’s voice call out his name, so he turned around and opened the door, not at all prepared for the sight before him.

Rey was sitting in his chair, completely naked but for one of his ties, and as Ben walked around the desk, he realized why she had called out his name. She had her fingers deep inside her perfect pussy, a vibrator that Ben didn’t even realize she owned running up and down her clit. 

He hardened instantly. When it came to working off his anger, sex would be even better than working out.

Rey’s eyes opened and she gave him a lazy smile as she moved her fingers in and out. “Mmm, hello.”

“What on earth did I do to deserve this?” Ben asked, taking his suit coat off and tossing it onto another chair. 

“Because, ah,” Rey gasped as her fingers hit a sensitive spot, “you like it.”

“I really do like watching you get yourself off, that’s true,” Ben said, beginning to undo the buttons of his shirt. “And you’ve got a new toy for it.”

“Not new,” Rey murmured. “Bought it after our first night together.”

Ben smiled. “Is that so?”

“Oh fuck, this feels good. So fucking close,” Rey said, letting her eyes drift closed. 

“Rey, look at me,” Ben demanded, and Rey’s eyes opened again. “Come for me. Right now.”

Rey threw her head back and screamed as the waves of her orgasm crashed over her. Her chest was heaving as she came down from the high, and by the time she opened her eyes again, Ben was completely naked. “Mmm, you’re so sexy,” she got out in between breaths.

“I have to fuck you right now,” Ben said, opening up the desk drawer and searching through it. “Where the fuck is one?”

Rey watched Ben get more frustrated by the second, eventually pulling the drawer completely out of the desk and turning it upside down on top of it. “Ben.”

“There’s no fucking condom,” he practically growled, and Rey reached out to grab his arm. 

“Ben.”

“I’ll go get one,” he said, but Rey wouldn’t let him walk away. “Baby, I really need to fuck you. Let me go get one.”

“Just do it,” she said, and Ben’s eyes whipped to hers. 

“Excuse me?” Ben asked, his eyes wide.

“It’s okay,” Rey said, pulling Ben to her. “Just fuck me already.”

“Rey, you’re not ready,” Ben started but Rey cut him off.

“I’m ready,” she said, sliding onto her knees and pushing the chair out of the way. “Come fuck me already.”

“Rey,” Ben breathed out, but Rey cut him off again.

“If you don’t come fuck me, then I’m just going to take a shower and then go home,” she said, and Ben had never dropped to his knees faster. “That’s what I thought.”

Ben reached out and ran his hands along her back before using his thumbs to part her folds. “How long were you fingering yourself before I got here?”

“Long enough that was the sixth time I came,” Rey said, looking back at him. “Now make me have lucky number seven.”

Ben moved closer to her and positioned himself. “Oh, you are so wet,” he said as he slid in easily. “You weren’t kidding about that, were you?”

“I don’t lie about things like that,” Rey said, dropping her head to the floor. “Oh, holy fuck do you feel good.”

Ben circled his arms around Rey’s waist and moved her until the angle was right, his mind concentrating on the wet heat surrounding him. And his skin was wet this time, no layer of latex between them, and Ben had never been harder in his life. “You feel fucking phenomenal,” he murmured as he began to thrust. “Oh fuck.”

Ben’s thrusts were hard and deep, the pace as fast as he could make it. He needed to get to the ultimate pleasure as quickly as he possibly could, but he also never wanted this to end. He wanted to be buried in her perfect pussy every second for the rest of his life now that he knew what it felt like to be there without a buffer. “You’re amazing,” he said, trailing kisses down her back. “And you better never ask me to use a condom again. This feels too fucking good.”

Rey laughed and concentrated on the feeling of Ben sliding into her, skin to skin. “Get us off and I’ll consider it.”

“Then touch yourself, baby.”

Rey moved her hand to her clit and started massaging it furiously. “Oh fuck, you feel so good.”

“Mmm, so do you,” Ben murmured, snapping his hips back and forth faster. “Fuck, baby.”

It wasn’t long before Rey screamed as her climax hit her, and Ben knew he was barely hanging on. “Come, baby,” Rey mumbled a few moments later, and that was all it took. 

Ben was shaking as he spilled himself into her, collapsing onto her back once the force of his orgasm was over. “Oh fuck, baby.”

Rey was gasping for air as Ben pulled out of her, and he pulled her close. “Ben,” she murmured, swallowing hard. “It’s never been like that before.”

“No,” Ben agreed, “it hasn’t.”

Rey leaned up and kissed him. “Did that help?”

Ben sighed. “You talked to my mother, didn’t you?”

“You took longer to get home than I thought you would,” Rey said. “I wasn’t planning on getting myself off so many times.”

“But you were planning on the rest of it?” Ben inquired.

“Well, I’m the one who took the condoms out of here, so I’d hope so.”

Ben chuckled. “I’m really serious about praying you never ask me to wear one again.”

“I have no plans to do that,” Rey murmured. “Not after that experience.”

“You know what I think?” Ben said, letting go of Rey and standing up. “I think we need to take a bath.”

“Ben, I don’t know how many more times I can come without a break,” Rey said as he bent down to pick her up. “I’m exhausted.”

“Just a bath then,” Ben said. “Then we’ll get some sleep. No more until later. I promise.”

“You’re the best,” Rey said, closing her eyes as Ben cradled her to him. “But we’re going to talk about lunch while we’re in the bath.”

“I somehow knew you were going to say that,” Ben sighed. “But I need to tell you anyway, so it might as well be now.”

“It’ll be alright.”

“Of course it will be,” Ben said. “I’ve got you.”


End file.
